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TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM Technological determinism is a reductionist doctrine that a society's technology determines its cultural values, social structure or history. (Wikipedia). This is a concept that believes in technology as a key governing force in society. Many say that the term was coined by Thorstein Veblen, an American sociologist. Most of news media and popular culture adhere to this.
Two ideas foremost in understanding technological determinism have two general ideas. This means that the development of technology follows a path beyond cultural or political influence. Another is that technology has effects on societies that are inherent, rather than socially conditioned (Wikipedia). This is related to Marshall Mcluhan's belief that technological development determines social and cultural change. (McLuhan). An example here is the emergence of the Internet. This is one technology, a notch higher now than television that is conquering the world continuously.
Neil Postman's work entitled Technopoly, The Surrender of Culture to Technology deals with the implications of technological innovation to the culture of a specific society and more importantly, how technology has changed the manner in which we live our everyday lives. Even author Neil Postman defines this as a state of culture. It is also a state of mind. It consists in the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology. This requires the development of a new kind of social order, and of necessity that leads to the rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs. (Postman, Neil, 1993, p. 71).
Another way of looking into Technological determinism is that it is a condition where the established defenses of society against information glut have broken down. It takes place when institutional life becomes inadequate to cope with too much information. Moreover, technopoly is present when a culture that is flooded by information generated by technology, attempts to make use of technology itself as an instrument of offering an understandable direction and humane purpose. (Kaplan, Nancy, 1995). Postman adheres to a negative perspective of technological determinism as he adopts a disapproving approach that showed a culture with a blind, unfailing faith in science. Technology is seen devoid of purpose, meaning or traditional beliefs. Postman's view of the world is stated in the context of progress without limits, rights without responsibilities, technology without cost and a moral center replaced by efficiency, interest and economic advance.
The author surmised that technology is an ally but mostly it is a dangerous enemy that intrudes into a culture. It subsequently alters important aspects of culture and in the same way it eliminates key sources of our humanity. Technology is perceived as a formidable opponent because it does not permit an assessment of its own consequences and it eradicates alternatives to itself. (Murphy, Elizabeth 1996). According to Postman, one of the most threatening costs of Technopoly would be the explosion of context-free information. He states that information appears indiscriminately and is directed at no one in particular. Moreover it can be accessed in large volumes and at high speeds.
Along these lines Postman concludes that information is not only stripped of its meaning and is useless but more importantly it can be potentially dangerous. He discusses the emergence of control systems to organize information that come in the form of statistics, opinion polls, SAT and IQ tests, among others (London, Scott). These tools often neglect the unpredictability of human behavior as well as dynamic character of certain events that it intends to measure scientifically. I would agree that these measures are critical in determining the validity of a particular premise or in explaining a phenomenon, but over dependence on the quantitative aspect would lead us to a generalization that does not incorporate change. For instance, in measuring the intelligence or physical ability of an individual we utilize technology. Given certain variables and conditions, a specific individual could give a particular measured output.
But technology does not in my view consider the indomitable power of the human spirit, which pushes an ordinary man to its perceived limits and capacity. It likewise fails to show the strength of the human mind, everything is possible as they say if we put our minds into it. A sprinter for one could be measured to run at a certain speed, but when the human spirit and mind comes to play, conventional measures that dictate parameters on speed is broken down. In this case the sprinter runs beyond its preconceived measures because it draws energy from the human mind and spirit, something that can never be measured. Postman notes that, The fighter understands that technology must never be accepted as the natural order of things and must maintain an epistemological and psychic distance from any technology, so that it always appears somewhat strange, never inevitable, and never natural (Novations. ). Technology has helped us in numerous ways and in making our lives more convenient.
But it should not be the focal point of our lives. For one, technological innovations have increased im personalization. With advanced communication and information tools we have grown distant because despite the primary aim of bringing us together, some means through which we get in touch have resulted to the warmth of talking to the person being taken out of the equation. Nowadays, people would often just call on their friends and family over the mobile phone rather than visit them personally to have a chat or two. Another instance of im personalization is seen when technology is applied to teaching that can be done through the computer or the Internet, thus the interaction between the student and teacher as well as that of student to student is likewise eliminated. With Technopoly, information is readily made available to everyone.
As they say information is power and information in the hands of dissident individuals could usher in disastrous implications. Towards this end, it is imperative for the government to institute the necessary safety nets to filter and protect sensitive information. Technology should not be an end in itself as in the final analysis; technology is just a product of our human intellect. We should not let technology condition our way of life, it is but a tool through which we address our problems and develop ourselves. Today, the Internet offers many advantages to businesses that equal or surpass other technologies used in electronic commerce (Newcombe). One, the Internet is said to provide a cheap platform to reach a global audience.
Two, a business is able to handle large volumes of transactions because of the scalability of commerce web applications. Three, application development in the Internet is said to be relatively easy (Newcombe). Internet commerce is also said to benefit from certain tax advantages as well as other advantages such as providing convenience in online shopping, reduced inventories and reduced business spaces, and ease of comparison shopping (Aaron 1999). Other advantages of doing business on the Internet are the elimination of costs associated with ordering, allowing for efficient tracking of orders, 24 by 7 by 365 operation, transaction speed, and unparalleled availability of information. (Winters Instruments) A key concept that might be of potential benefit to businesses going into the Internet is the concept of disintermediation, or the elimination of the middleman in business transactions (Bambury). Such disintermediation has the obvious benefit of slashing transaction costs, which can either be passed on to the client or can form part of margin for businesses. It is said that some of the transplanted models are to an extent intermediate, but that most services based on native Internet business models, as defined by Bambury, are essentially cheap or free (Bambury).
Disintermediation as a concept forms a basis for the Internet being a cheap and cost-effective platform for commerce. The US Chamber of Commerce lists three privacy issues related to how personal and classified information of individuals and businesses ought to be protected, without unduly hindering the conduct of business activities (US Chamber of Commerce). The first issue has to do with self-regulation, or the voluntary installation of privacy measures among chamber members, including the ability of individuals to customize their security settings from their browsers. The second issue has to do with the special sensitivity of financial and medical information, as well as information on children. The third issue has to do with legislation and regulation. Legislation is focused on the areas of financial, medical, and social security information, as well as on the issue of unsolicited commercial mail (US Chamber of Commerce).
The scalability of Internet-based commerce applications that leads to companies being able to handle large transaction volumes (Bambury), also introduces the issue of management control of transaction processing, the solutions to which are approached differently by different organizations. The issue has process dimensions, in that control of transactions also entails management intimacy with its underlying processes. As such, the issue is affected by the changes brought by Internet commerce to the way processes are re-engineered, eliminated, and automated to bring about higher process and business efficiencies (Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations). Issues on management control over customer relationships do not relate so much to process as much as being able to craft a successful customer intimacy strategy to differentiate companies from competition (Kincaid). Enterprise resource planning, management control considerations have to do with being able to integrate core business processes to the transactional systems used for Internet commerce. It is said that the Internet effects of access, control, speed, globalization, and automation are said to have altered the way businesses operate on the Internet, whether they be operations-focused, product leadership-focused, or customer intimacy-focused (Kincaid).
Such effects on businesses are said to escalate as the 21 st century unfolds, with tight customer intimacy being the most important ingredient to success in Internet commerce. (Kincaid) The information technology age would not have been considered a revolutionary phenomenon without the Internet technology existing hand in hand with it. What used to be, as Bill Gates describe it, an obscure network of large computers used only by a small community of researchers has now become a global network of millions of people across the globe who are connected to each other and enjoying the tremendous wealth of knowledge the Internet technology brings into their lives. Today, one is convinced that the technological determinism is alive with the Internet technology which is here to stay and will continually move unimaginable dimensions of progress for all. It will continually become the center of attention for businesses, governments and individuals, most especially for businesses in line with information technology that are closely linked with the information age. The Internet technology has impacted widely the avenues of developing new industries that spring from new ideas; it has unearthed those that used to be products of mans wild imaginations yet now have become tangible realities of our time.
The Internet technology has transformed existing creations and upgraded them to more dynamic human creations. But despite all these developments that continuously evolve and make some difference in our lives, there are still much more to expect ahead. Bill Gates would even consider that we are only at the dawn of the Internet Age and there are still more to tap and explore from it (Gates, 2005). Moving towards optimizing the Internet technology for our business, the use of the World Wide Web is seamlessly an explosion. By using hyperlinks and graphical "browsing" technology, the Web greatly simplifies the process of searching for, accessing, and sharing information on the Internet, making it much more accessible (even) to a non-technical audience (Gates, 2005). As the Web gains popularity to all users, a new industry emerges and these are the information technology hardware and software developers.
Moving ahead, the Internet technology will still continue to make wonders in the way people live, in the way they work and the kind of lifestyle that they enjoy and get used to. It is expected that the Internet will soon find its way to developing cheap yet powerful devices, fast and convenient Internet access, and software innovations that could make the Internet a common and powerful tool for everyone to enjoy everyday. The Internet access shall widen its reach, empowering companies and industries alike to develop a vast range of smart devices familiar even among the common households. More people around the world will interact with a computer and with high-tech phone devices just as if they are interacting, interconnected in a face-to-face manner of communication. The Internet technology will continue to change peoples lives. While some consider it as a threat to a great number of people, it is also seen as a positive tool for transforming the world as it liberates people and bring society close together and enjoin more creative people to engage in new business opportunities from it.
Economic development, social and cultural developments, political empowerment, promotion of peace and prosperity through the world are some of the vital areas that Internet technology can become useful and indispensable. Business companies need to profit from its use and seek for more areas to grow their businesses from. Students, teachers, researchers, the men and women from different professions will continue to use the Internet technology, who in one way or the other, become fully equipped individuals in transforming the world into a better place to live for all. REFERENCES Aaron, Henry. The Internet Tax Dodge. The Washington Post. 3 December 1999. 24 April. 2006 < web >.
Bambury, Paul. A Taxonomy of Internet Commerce. First Monday. 1998. 24 April. 2006 < web >. Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Guide to eCommerce. 12 October 2005. 24 April. 2006 < web >. DELL USA. (2005).
Dell, Inc. Retrieved on 24 April. 2006 web Gates, Bill. (2005) Shaping the Internet Age. Internet Policy Institute, Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved on 24 April. 2006 at: web Kaplan, Nancy. What Neil Postman has to say. Computer Mediated Communication Magazine, March 1995. 24 April 2006 at: web Kincaid, Judith.
Commerce and Customer Relationship Management in the 21 st Century. Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference. 2006. 24 April... 2006 < web >. Newcombe, Tod. Government Internet Commerce Takes Root. 1 March 1998. 24 April. 2006 < web >.
Postman, Neil. Technopoly, The Surrender of Culture and Technology. New York: Vintage Books, 1993. P. 71 Novations. A Review of Technopoly, The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman. New York: Vintage Books, 1993.
p. 184. web Postman, Neil. Technopoly, The Surrender of Culture and Technology. New York: Vintage Books, 1993. P. 71 Technological Determinsim Marshall McLuhan. 24 April 2006 at: web Technological Determinism. web Technology.
Principia Cybernetica Web. web Wikipedia. Accessed 24 April 2006 at: web US Chamber of Commerce. Privacy Issues Overview. 2006. 24 April... 2006 < web >.
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