Role of Consumers
to what extent do consumers shape technological change
groups involved in technological change:
- inventors
- corporations or other organizations that
produce and sell the new technology--often initially
competing versions
- consumers
- have choices from different companies
- sometimes reject a new technology
completely
- consumer preferences affect what
corporations develop--can push corporations to do things
they didn't want to do
- pick and choose which technologies fit how
they want to live and sometimes using those technologies
in ways not intended
- technicians, repair people and others who
keep the system working
the direction of technological change is not inevitable
what we do experience is that technological systems have
momentum
look in both directions:
- impact of technology on society
- impact of society on technology