ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that technology both transforms and is itself transformed by society. It draws on the interaction between language, society, and technology, the discussion is confined to those technological innovations that involve language centrally. The book focuses on areas of technology in which language is central to the operation of the technology, or the technology is devised as a vehicle to facilitate discourse among humans. Technology that comes immediately to mind for most lay people would be computers and the telephone. The book examines how language and society are impacted and impact the technology. It aims to raise the issues of privacy and control, issues that linguists, computer scientists, and others interested in the social life of humankind need to address to ensure the technology is empowering for all.
