This reading addressed several perspectives of technology and culture, and here are some points I’ve taken away:
– ‘Technological determinism refers to the belief that technology is the agent of social change’. This stance holds that technology is independent and has it’s own trajectory and consequences, removed from social factors
-McLuhan considered technologies as ‘extensions of human capacities’. He believed that the cultural significance of media is found in the form of expression, rather than the content. The term he coined, ‘global village’ attempts to describes the World Wide Web
– Meyrowitz proposed that age and gender divisions are obscured due to the accessibility of electronic media skills in comparison to literacy skills.
– Raymond Williams suggested social factors creates a need for technology, as does political and economical factors. Winston believed that this, ‘social necessity’ was the reason why some technologies fail while others succeed.
A quote by Mackenzie and Wacjman that resonated with me: “A new device merely opens a door; it does not compel one to enter”
Something that confused me in this reading was that they didn’t define what ‘technology’ was. Language was considered a technology, but communication wasn’t?