Technology and Its Consequences: Worth Considering? (CS 404)

Should we consider the consequences of new technology? After reading "From Movable Type to Data Deluge" and "Five things we need to Know About Technological Change," I started thinking about the hurried rate of new technologies and the changes it brings to our lives. Computers and the Internet have, without a doubt, changed the world, for both good and bad. We can see the effects in retrospect, but can we accurately foresee its outcome? When the ENIAC was built, could the inventors have known that it would lead to a world with thousands of affordable, personal, hand-held computers? When the ARPANET was created, could they have known it would lead to a massive increase in pornography? So if we can't truly know what new technology will bring, is it worth considering? Of course it is. If we don't consider the negative consequences, then how else will we have stories like The Matrix?