Icon Explanation Technology & Sociology6/23/2000; 12:58:19 PM I wanted to explain the icon I've chosen for the Technology & Sociology section. One of my sub-hobbies is the study of the interplay of technology and social effects. It's something that I wish more policy makers were aware of.The cannon is one of the canonical examples of a piece of technology that completely overthrows previous social structures. I'm simplifying wildly here, but cannons cause the overthrow of kings. The feudal structure assumes a strongly defensive system of war (amoung other assumptions). It assumes that fortifications (castles) can be built that cannot be penetrated without massive loss of resources by the enemy. This is why you must lay siege to a castle, and run them out of supplies before you can take the castle.The cannon changed that. With the cannon, one could tear apart a castle before those inside had a chance to retaliate, and from a distance that made it impossible to reliably counter-attack without leaving the protection of the castle. Suddenly, wars turned into battles of offense, and the castles ceased to be invincible fortresses. This meant that the castles were no longer the central authority they once were. Though the castles would still be important, and forts would still be built, the erosion of the power of the castle owners was inevitable, which meant a change away from feudalism.While the cannon doesn't represent much to us on the Internet, technology and sociology still intertwine in surprising and unpredictable ways, esp. now that we are able to customize technology to the effects we want to achieve, for example with privacy.