AbstractDoes society shape technology? Does technology shape society? An ongoing debate from which many interesting ideas can be drawn upon. There is no way in which the true depth of the many different ways of conceptualising technology can be captured here, however I will attempt to do some justice by focusing and splitting the essay into three main sections I believe will bring out the best of the debate.
The example I have decided to use throughout the essay is a contemporary office design, based upon Zuboff's 'intelligent/informated organisation', and the artefact in particular simply being the architecture itself; as Le Corbusier (1923) exclaimed, architecture is the first manifestation of a man creating his own universe and therefore I wanted to take this opportunity to put it into this society/technology debate.
This essay is split into three main sections, using the open plan office example throughout; The New Organisation, which will touch upon the 'intelligent/informated organisation' and introduce the example that will be used throughout; Conceptualising Technology, where the main points of SCOT and ANT will be analysed; The impact of technology: shaping viewpoints, where the focus will lie with how the two concepts shape our understanding of the impact of technology on organisations and society in general; The debate: Conclusions, which draws upon some more literature to summarise the conceptualising technology debate to the best ability an essay this size can manage.
Office 2.0
New Magazine Concepts I
My Comet Home ConceptContentsPage 1...............................Front CoverPage 2..............................AbstractPage 3..............................ContentsPage 4...............................Introduction..............................The New OrganisationPage 5..............................The New Organisation...............Conceptualising TechnologyPage 6...............................Conceptualising Technology.....The impact of technology: shaping viewsPage 7...............................The impact of technology: shaping viewsPage 8...............................The impact of technology: shaping viewsPage 9.............................. The impact of technology: shaping viewsPage 9...............................The debate: ConclusionsPage 10.............................ReferencesPage 11.............................ReferencesIntroductionDoes society shape technology? Does technology shape society? An ongoing debate from which many interesting ideas can be drawn upon. This essay aims...