Social Shaping of Technology vs Technological Determinism
Monday, October 12, 2009 by M.K
Brian Winston brings about a very interesting point about the rise of technology in his article Let Them Eat Laptops. I've always had some thought on why technology has developed to what is has become today but have never considered how.
After pondering this for a little while i came to the conclusion that, it is very possible that both the social shaping of technology and technological determinism play a big role in the advancement and development of technology. When the mobile phone was first at its peek, technological determinism created technological forces which caused for the rise in its popularity. Mobile phones were everywhere, they were accessible to most people and set off a new way for communicating with others. So in other words, the response towards the mobile phone from man kind was influenced through the technological forces created by technology. Here we have the example of technological determinism. But what if we were to look at it differently. The rise of mobile phones and the increase in its popularity may have been the influence of technological determinism back in the day, but today, the popularity of mobile phones seems to have an influence caused by the social shaping of the technology.
Having a mobile phone is no longer strictly for communication purposes. People use their mobile as a form of entertainment as well as a resource which supplies information. Being able to download music onto a mobile phone and accessing emails or websites such as Facebook drives people to want this "gadget" as it is the "cool" thing to have. People choose to have a mobile phone and the growth of its popularity has been, not only influenced (previously) by technological determinism, but by social shaping as well. Society influences for the development of this technology by choosing to make this particular technology a "must have" technology. This then drive for more development to take place for this particular technology.
It may have been previously argued that the development of technology can only occur under either social shaping or technological determinism, but not both. In my opinion this may not be the case. It may not be possible for both theories to take place at the same time, but it could be possible that the past development of a technology caused by technological determinism may have brought upon the social shaping of technology today.
After pondering this for a little while i came to the conclusion that, it is very possible that both the social shaping of technology and technological determinism play a big role in the advancement and development of technology. When the mobile phone was first at its peek, technological determinism created technological forces which caused for the rise in its popularity. Mobile phones were everywhere, they were accessible to most people and set off a new way for communicating with others. So in other words, the response towards the mobile phone from man kind was influenced through the technological forces created by technology. Here we have the example of technological determinism. But what if we were to look at it differently. The rise of mobile phones and the increase in its popularity may have been the influence of technological determinism back in the day, but today, the popularity of mobile phones seems to have an influence caused by the social shaping of the technology.
Having a mobile phone is no longer strictly for communication purposes. People use their mobile as a form of entertainment as well as a resource which supplies information. Being able to download music onto a mobile phone and accessing emails or websites such as Facebook drives people to want this "gadget" as it is the "cool" thing to have. People choose to have a mobile phone and the growth of its popularity has been, not only influenced (previously) by technological determinism, but by social shaping as well. Society influences for the development of this technology by choosing to make this particular technology a "must have" technology. This then drive for more development to take place for this particular technology.
It may have been previously argued that the development of technology can only occur under either social shaping or technological determinism, but not both. In my opinion this may not be the case. It may not be possible for both theories to take place at the same time, but it could be possible that the past development of a technology caused by technological determinism may have brought upon the social shaping of technology today.