Instrumental conception of technology
Encyclopedia
The instrumental conception of technology is Mary Tiles' and Hans Oberdiek's description of the theory technological artefacts are value neutral. They attribute this belief to optimists, for whom technical instruments belong to the “the factual realm” and only acquire a positive or negative value through their development and use by humans “for good or evil”.
This belief was encapsulated in David Sarnoff
's statement made in an acceptance speech for his honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame:
According to Lelia Green, the notion technology is neutral assumes technological advances occur “in a vacuum”, the result of individual bursts of inspiration, or ‘Eureka’ moments, as the popular mythology of technology suggests.
It also assumes technological development is inevitable, she adds, and for a technology to be neutral, it must be on a fixed “trajectory” following an “internal logic”.
since the 1950s. This made possible the microcomputer, which was able to function in networks as a result of advances in telecommunications. Thus, he states, computer technology “did not come out of any pre-established necessity: it was technologically induced rather than socially determined".
David Croteau and William Hoynes agree the technical properties of media have a significant impact on communication both through “providing parameters within which human agents must operate” and through enabling certain types of action.
as an example of the potential social implications of technology, claiming it is “fundamentally changing the way we live”. They observe that it has facilitated “new forms of social interaction” and new ways of relating to, or even manipulating, the limitations of time and space”. For example, the formation of online forums based on common interests reinvents traditional communities limited by locality and time zones and based on direct interaction. They also cite Shapiro’s claim that there has been a “potentially radical shift in who is in control – of information, experience and resources” This is demonstrated by the proliferation of user-produced media through blogs and websites such as YouTube
.
As Green states, “to argue that any technology is neutral is to ignore the social and cultural circumstances in which that technology was developed, and the policy and regulatory regimes under which that technology is deployed”.
Social determinist arguments against the instrumental conception of technology include:
provides an alternative explanation to Castells’ for the development of the personal computer. He argues the invention of computer technology for the general public was not inevitable. In fact, he suggests that the companies that produced early calculators were unprepared for their success, and Intel did not foresee the use of the 8080 microprocessor for personal computing.
Ceruzzi
credits the hacker culture at MIT and Stanford, particularly MIT’s Tech Model Railroad Club, with the existence of democratising personal computer technology today. Such people “saw a variant of a time-shared PDP-10 as a way to transform computing and make it accessible to ordinary people, for Utopian uses”. Since the development of the time-sharing capabilities required late-night work when time-shared systems were lightly loaded, he explains, it was enthusiasts rather than employees who began the process of making computers usable for the public.
Ceruzzi
also explains the adoption of the technology as contingent on social factors. Among these are market forces, such as the demand for the programmable calculator in the 1970s, which first offered a consumer market for logic chips and amortized the costs of establishing production lines for complex integrated circuits. He also discusses forms of social organization, including users’ groups, clubs, newsletters, and publications such as Popular Electronics
that provided skills and frameworks for the broader use of the new technologies. He claims this “supporting infrastructure was crucial to the success of personal computing”.
In this view, the seemingly inherent properties of personal computers and their networks, for instance, that they “pull towards diversity and participation”, are socially determined properties.
This belief was encapsulated in David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American commercial radio and television. He founded the National Broadcasting Company and throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his...
's statement made in an acceptance speech for his honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame:
- "We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them. The products of modern science are not themselves good or bad; it is the way they are used that determines their value".
According to Lelia Green, the notion technology is neutral assumes technological advances occur “in a vacuum”, the result of individual bursts of inspiration, or ‘Eureka’ moments, as the popular mythology of technology suggests.
It also assumes technological development is inevitable, she adds, and for a technology to be neutral, it must be on a fixed “trajectory” following an “internal logic”.
Example: personal computing
Manuel Castells’ account of the development of the personal computer adheres to the instrumental conception of technology. He claims technology develops independent of other social forces, since “economic, industrial and technological paths, while related, are slow-moving and imperfectly fitting in their interaction”. He argues Ted Hoff’s microprocessor invented in 1971 came out of “knowledge and ingenuity” developed at Intel and in Silicon ValleySilicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
since the 1950s. This made possible the microcomputer, which was able to function in networks as a result of advances in telecommunications. Thus, he states, computer technology “did not come out of any pre-established necessity: it was technologically induced rather than socially determined".
Criticism
The instrumental conception of technology has been criticised from both technological and social determinist perspectives.Technological Determinist critique
Marshall McLuhan contends Sarnoff’s statement “ignores the nature of the medium”. For McLuhan, “the medium is the message”. Media technologies are not simply “passive tools”, but rather play an active role in shaping the nature of human association.David Croteau and William Hoynes agree the technical properties of media have a significant impact on communication both through “providing parameters within which human agents must operate” and through enabling certain types of action.
Example: the Internet
Croteau and Hoynes describe the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
as an example of the potential social implications of technology, claiming it is “fundamentally changing the way we live”. They observe that it has facilitated “new forms of social interaction” and new ways of relating to, or even manipulating, the limitations of time and space”. For example, the formation of online forums based on common interests reinvents traditional communities limited by locality and time zones and based on direct interaction. They also cite Shapiro’s claim that there has been a “potentially radical shift in who is in control – of information, experience and resources” This is demonstrated by the proliferation of user-produced media through blogs and websites such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Social Determinist critique
The theory of the social determination of technology holds that technologies are shaped more by “the social or economic system in which it is embedded” than by its inherent properties. A social determinist would argue technologies are never neutral since they are inevitably influenced by social factors through their development and adoption by humans.As Green states, “to argue that any technology is neutral is to ignore the social and cultural circumstances in which that technology was developed, and the policy and regulatory regimes under which that technology is deployed”.
Social determinist arguments against the instrumental conception of technology include:
- The dominant public understanding of a medium’s applications become “fixed” by social circumstances as much as by its “intrinsic properties”.
- Social circumstances are vital in determining which technologies are successfully adopted, and which ones fail. Such circumstances include economic reasoning, communicative purposes or needs, and “forms of social organization that provide the skills and frameworks for deploying the technologies within the wider social context”.
- Technologies can “embody specific forms of power and authority”. They can be designed in a manner that enforces a particular power relationship, for instance, Robert Moses’ construction of low overpasses in New York which restricted the presence of buses and hence the lower social classes. Technologies can also be inherently political, compatible with certain political relationships, whether “centralised or decentralised, egalitarian or inegalitarian, repressive or liberating”.
- Technology is not value neutral because its adoption prioritises one set of values over others. For instance, the Internet could be said to promote speed and efficiency in communication over direct interaction.
- Different individuals and societies can hold opposite beliefs about the value of technologies. As the ‘Social Construction of TechnologySocial construction of technologySocial construction of technology is a theory within the field of Science and Technology Studies. Advocates of SCOT -- that is, social constructivists -- argue that technology does not determine human action, but that rather, human action shapes technology...
’ theory suggests, artefacts have “interpretative flexibility”.
Example: personal computing
Paul CeruzziPaul E. Ceruzzi
Paul E. Ceruzzi is curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.-Life:...
provides an alternative explanation to Castells’ for the development of the personal computer. He argues the invention of computer technology for the general public was not inevitable. In fact, he suggests that the companies that produced early calculators were unprepared for their success, and Intel did not foresee the use of the 8080 microprocessor for personal computing.
Ceruzzi
Paul E. Ceruzzi
Paul E. Ceruzzi is curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.-Life:...
credits the hacker culture at MIT and Stanford, particularly MIT’s Tech Model Railroad Club, with the existence of democratising personal computer technology today. Such people “saw a variant of a time-shared PDP-10 as a way to transform computing and make it accessible to ordinary people, for Utopian uses”. Since the development of the time-sharing capabilities required late-night work when time-shared systems were lightly loaded, he explains, it was enthusiasts rather than employees who began the process of making computers usable for the public.
Ceruzzi
Paul E. Ceruzzi
Paul E. Ceruzzi is curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.-Life:...
also explains the adoption of the technology as contingent on social factors. Among these are market forces, such as the demand for the programmable calculator in the 1970s, which first offered a consumer market for logic chips and amortized the costs of establishing production lines for complex integrated circuits. He also discusses forms of social organization, including users’ groups, clubs, newsletters, and publications such as Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
that provided skills and frameworks for the broader use of the new technologies. He claims this “supporting infrastructure was crucial to the success of personal computing”.
In this view, the seemingly inherent properties of personal computers and their networks, for instance, that they “pull towards diversity and participation”, are socially determined properties.