On Steel axes and snowmobiles

The introduction of new technologies into a society can bring changes in the social and economical aspects of its culture. But these changes will not happen in the same way everywhere. New technologies bring change just because they imply things will be done in a different way or with a different instrument. Nevertheless, these new technologies will have different impacts in different societies, cultures, or regions. The way they impact a society depends on many factors.

Why would somebody embrace a new technology? Does it solve a problem? Does it make a common task easier? Does it empower people that otherwise had to be submissive? Does its adoption converge into the environment in a ‘natural’ way?

Answering ‘yes’ to any of these questions might not be sufficient, but it could be a start toward a change. In a close society, new developments seem to have greater impact. This was the case of the Yir Yoront in Australia, where a steel axe changed family relationships, trading gatherings, and hierarchical relationships in the communities.

The snowmobile had different impacts in different countries (Finland and Canada), regions and islands. Adopting or not its use was a response to ecological differences in a region where a community lived, to the necessities of the community after an epidemic, and even to the capacity of acquisition a whole community or a sector had. When there were discrepancies in social status, the adoption of new technologies seemed to increased the gap between the “have” and the “have not”.

This made me think about how computers have impacted the society we live in today. There already is evidence that the gap between different SES is higher. In schools, students that have access to computers at home usually belong to middle - high SES. This allows them to have different experiences, which increase the gap with students that are not able to have a computer at home. Becker (2002) studied this issue and has also related this problem to the level of expectations a teacher sometimes have of the students.

References:

Becker, H. J. (2002). Who’s Wired and Who’s Not: children’s Access to and Use of Computer Technology. Retrieved November 22, 2002, from the Future of Children Web Site http://www.futureofchildren.org/inforamtion2826/information_show.htm?doc_id=69803

Pelto, P. J., & Müller-Wille, L. (1973). Snowmobiles: Technological Revolution in the Arctic. In P. Pelto (Ed.), Snowmobile Revolution: Technology and Change in the Arctic (pp. 166-200). New York: Macmillan.

Sharp, L. (1952). Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians. In E. Spicer (Ed.), Human Problems in Technological Change (pp. 69-90). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.