TE: Technological Ethics

                In a previous class, I had to write up a research paper about “Science and Ethics”, I ended up focusing on Medical Ethics. It was quite disgusting. In class, we were asked about general ethics within the science related fields. But at one point the professor brought up ethics in other fields, and mentioned the NSA. It is a topic brought up at the beginning of the semester in this class, with the revelations brought about by Edward Snowden and the NSA from over the summer. But it occurred to me that the focus in nearly all of these were privacy and, later, security. But the thought came to mind: “How come tech companies seem to be from a whole different planet when it comes to business practices, especially related to ethics?”

                Think about it; in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, if you went into your average company, you’d see beige walls, beige cubicles, beige floors, probably vinyl and faux wood paneling if the company was from the 70s and 80s, and florescent lights everywhere. Employees were a suit, bosses were in corner offices, and everything was about money, even if the companies’ goal was to help society. Now if you turn your head to companies like Yahoo, Microsoft, and Apple, you saw something startlingly different. No suits, bosses worked where their employees worked, the floors were random colors, the walls were glass and steel, the lights were anything from a skylight to a disco ball. If you asked for a timeline, you were told “soon”.

                But there was a different take to business as well; they too were all about money, but they made it by making awesome products and worked on them based on user feedback. While people rallied against the nuclear industry, banks (like always), and other industries, tech companies were funding housing projects, alternative energy, feeding the poor and hungry. Their employees were allowed to express their religion, political affiliations, sexuality, etc. so long as they didn’t discriminate against someone with differing opinions or beliefs.

                Even today, while some companies are attempting to prevent politicians from writing laws that affect them (I tend to believe that most politicians don’t know what they are doing, so there may be a point), tech companies are competing to see who is the most energy efficient? Who uses the least forced/unethical labor manufactories? How can they produce a better product at a lower cost (unless you’re Apple, then it’s always the same cost or higher with minor, if any, changes in the product)?

                Part of why a tech company acts so different is because they are run by a different set of people. While a bank may be run by someone who graduated with an MBA as a manager and stayed in that position year after year, increasing only in rank but not position, they may make decisions from their experience without necessarily knowing the industry they are in. Compare this with a tech company who are often founded, built up, and run by the same guys who are writing the software or creating the hardware. If you look at areas outside of the tech industry that do the same thing, they often do a lot better too.

                TL:DR: Technology companies don’t have individuals who don’t have experience with their industry running their company. At least not until they reach a very large size, in which case they tend to fall fairly quickly before putting another “techie” back in charge. They want their employees happy, their company “doing the right thing”, the company profitable, and to have a purpose within society and probably world culture. Even though other industries may act unethically or work only for profit (it’s a business, it’s what they and tech companies do), they can’t deny that the five guys working out of their truck on making a mobile app may in fact be making more money per day then they are, and they are doing it without screwing over the consumer and public. *End random thoughts*