Social Construction of Technology

It's become more clear that the structure is not technologically determined but a combination of technology and political/social acceptability. Technologies are socially constructed (see Noble, 1984). In fact, much of the social choices are actually contained within the developed technology itself. Nobel described how the NC machining systems won out over record-playback systems largely due to political influence among the various parties involved and not based on effectiveness or efficiency (Noble, 1984).

Much of this new thought is non-deterministic and often focuses on the technological roads "not taken" and the impact of institutions, politics, and power on technology selection and implementation.