Here is what I have for my part: In class we have talked at length about deterministic views of technology. However, for our presentation we chose to take a social construction of technology view. Social constructionists, unlike determinists, believe that human action shapes technology and not the other way around. According to the textbook, “a technological object can acquire different uses and values according to the social context it is placed in.” We took a social constructionist view, because even though it may feel like the technology of a smart phone causes us to be dependent on it (which is a deterministic view), we believe that smart phones exist because there was a desire in society for a technology that would make our lives easier. I think this can be better understood by using the evolutionary model of technological development. Before the smart phone, humans had already invented not only the telephone, but text messaging, the internet, clocks, cameras, calendars, calculators, compasses, music, and the concept of forecasting weather. Before the smart phone you would not only need to carry around a backpack to keep all of those features with you, but you would also need to convince a meteorologist and a stock broker to follow you around and keep you up to date. The Smart phone was an evolution in technological development as it more or less combined features that had already been invented into one device for convenience. As humans we crave convenience. The smart phone was created to put all these different aspects together in one device because there was a desire in society to make our lives easier. Simply put the smart phone did not cause our lives to be easier, we created the smart phone because we wanted our lives to be easier.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:55:07 +0000
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