Abstract
At each stage of technological development, decisions are continuously taken that help shape the final result. However, the prevailing model of technological development in our society aspires only to maximise economic benefit, a state of affairs that determines the type of decisions taken. The result is technological alienation, i.e., the situation in which the users or operators of a technical system must abandon all hope of controlling the technology they are using if they wish to take full advantage of it. In contrast to the prevailing model of technological development leading to alienating technologies, a set of criteria is put forward here to assess technology projects that define an alternative model for development of engaging, non-alienating technologies.
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Notes
- 1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukudu. Accessed July 1, 2016.
- 2.
Naturally, once we have accepted the normality of structural opacity, it becomes easier to use it for other purposes which have nothing to do with the functionality of technology, but with its financial profitability. The case of Volkswagen is revealing: the use of technology to mislead users by generating false data for the electronic systems monitoring contaminant gas emissions. It is difficult to imagine how a large-scale fraud such as this could have been perpetrated without the legitimising contribution of the black-box design, where the black boxes become armoured boxes, inaccessible to the user.
- 3.
Of course, the same is true of the boiler of a coal-fired kiln, and therefore it is not considered wrong for the kiln to be kept closed whilst alight.
- 4.
Whilst not a theme park, as such, it must be acknowledged that tourists can now visit the ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine.
- 5.
- 6.
As evidence of the untruth, the fire station in Livermore, California has an incandescent bulb (http://www.centennialbulb.org/ctbulb.jpg) which has been shining continuously for over 100 years. The mere existence of that bulb disproves all technical arguments as to the obsolescence of this type of object.
- 7.
Today, there are numerous initiatives to raise awareness of this issue. Of particular note is the Spanish documentary ‘Comprar, tirar, comprar’ [Buy, Throw away. Buy], available at: http://www.rtve.es/television/documentales/comprar-tirar-comprar/
- 8.
Why is it that an original replacement part tends to be sold at a much higher price than that paid when the product is first made on the assembly line? In the automobile market, it is well known that Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) spare parts cost, on average, more than those from an After Market Manufacturer (AMM).
- 9.
These principles already form part of the movement against planned obsolescence, whose organisation issues certification to products and companies which comply with them. (http://feniss.org/sello-issop/). And the European Economic and Social Committee called for a total ban on planned obsolescence in 2013 (http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases/eesc-calls-total-ban-planned-obsolescence)
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- 11.
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I am indebted to Ben Engel for his professional contribution to the English translation of the original Spanish text.
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Quintanilla Fisac, M.Á. (2018). Engaging Technologies: Criteria for an Alternative Model of Technological Development. In: Laspra, B., López Cerezo, J. (eds) Spanish Philosophy of Technology. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71958-0_8
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