Doctoral Dissertation Research: Honghong Tinn: "Tinkering with Computers, Constructing a Developing Country: The History of Computing inTaiwan, 1945-1985"

博士论文研究：田红红：《修补计算机，建设发展中国家：台湾计算机史，1945-1985》

• 批准号: 0847981
• 负责人: Ronald Kline
• 金额: $ 1.41万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-02-15 至 2011-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0847981&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Honghong; Tinn

This project on the history of computing in Taiwan is funded by NSF's Science, Technology, and Society Program. It focuses on the intertwined history of computing and more generally of development in postwar Taiwan. Tinkering with computers, instead of inventing computers, was part of the development project in Taiwan during the Cold War period. "Tinkering" in this project refers to the practices of emulating, adapting, modifying, assembling in an innovative manner, and otherwise working creatively with technologies. This project will expand the boundaries of the history of computing during the Cold War outside the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union. Tinkering with computers was the foremost issue for scientists, engineers, technicians, and users who participated in the development projects in Taiwan during this period. The project focuses on three historical cases. The first one is a technical-aid program involving mainframe computers that the United Nations established at National Chiao-Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan in the early 1960s. The second case involves a project in which an NCTU graduate program, although able to buy a minicomputer from various suppliers, built a minicomputer from scratch between 1968 and 1971. The third case investigates two intriguing phenomena that surfaced between 1976 and 1985: why many of Taiwan's personal computer users preferred to build their own microcomputers and how this preference initiated a series of debates about whether legal institutions allowed Taiwanese companies to make Apple compatibles.The project intends to make three theoretical contributions to the literature in Science and Technology Studies. First, it aims to address the lack of scholarship in the history of electronic computing in East Asia and its connection to the politics of science and technology during the Cold War. Second, the proposed broadening of the concept of tinkering expands the field of user studies in science and technology studies. This project contributes to the movement away from studying a traditional site of invention and innovation by studying a broader category of users?tinkerers. Third, this project will contribute to the studies of the meanings of science and technology in the development projects of postcolonial countries. The focus is not on the success of technology transfer but on local interpretations of and local actions regarding introducing electronic computing to Taiwan.

本计画是由美国国家科学基金会科学、技术与社会计画所赞助，以台湾计算史为研究对象。它侧重于计算机的交织历史和战后台湾更普遍的发展。修修补补，而不是发明计算机，是冷战时期台湾发展计划的一部分。“修补”在这个项目中是指模仿，适应，修改，以创新的方式组装，以及创造性地使用技术的实践。该项目将扩大美国，欧洲和苏联以外的冷战期间计算历史的边界。修修补补是这一时期参与台湾开发项目的科学家、工程师、技术人员和用户的首要问题。该项目侧重于三个历史案例。第一个是一个技术援助计划，涉及联合国在台湾国立交通大学（NCTU）于1960年代初建立的大型计算机。第二个案例涉及一个项目，在这个项目中，一个NCTU研究生项目，虽然能够从不同的供应商那里购买一台小型计算机，但在1968年至1971年之间从头开始建造了一台小型计算机。第三个案例探讨了1976年至1985年间出现的两个有趣的现象：为什么许多台湾个人电脑用户喜欢自己制造微型计算机，以及这种偏好如何引发了一系列关于法律的机构是否允许台湾公司制造苹果兼容机的争论。首先，它旨在解决东亚电子计算历史缺乏学术研究的问题，以及它与冷战期间科学和技术政治的联系。第二，建议扩大修补概念，扩大了科学和技术研究中的用户研究领域。这个项目有助于从研究传统的发明和创新网站的运动，通过研究更广泛的用户类别？修补匠第三，本项目将有助于研究科学和技术在后殖民国家发展项目中的意义。重点不在于技术转移的成功与否，而在于当地对引进电子计算的解释和行动。