SOCIAL FACTORS



Technology and society are inseparable. The design, development, adoption, utilization, and diffusion of technology are inherently social processes. As Howard Segal writes in his book Future Imperfect (1994), "all structures and machines, primitive or sophisticated, exist in a social context and, unless designed for the sake of design itself, serve a social function". Technology and society interact and influence each other, sometimes benignly, other times violently. Technology impacts, shapes, and defines society and, in turn, a variety of social factors affect the development, implementation, and spread of technology. 

All technologies impact the society in which they are used. Toffler (1970) succinctly describes technology's impact when he writes that "new machines do more than suggest or compel changes in other machines -- they suggest novel solutions to social, philosophical, even personal problems ... they alter man's total intellectual environment -- the way he thinks an looks at the world". Segal (1994) adds an important point when he writes that "if, as in the significant case of the auto, modern technology solved a number of problems, social as well as technical, from the outset it simultaneously bred or helped to breed several others, social and technical alike". 

A number of factors play a role in determining the rate at which an innovation or new technology will be adopted. It can be said that the technological superiority of an innovation plays a relatively minor role in determining its success. Many other factors, most of them relating to the social factors present at the adopting site, play just as large a role as technological superiority in influencing the success or failure of an innovation. 



Lack of Demand - How successful a product or technological innovation is usually is gauged by how much it sells or how widely it is used. Of course this is not the only barometer of success but the point is, if something does not sell or if nobody wants to use it, most would see it as a flop. Whether or not the product sells depends on the consumer and because the way a consumer behaves, thinks or reacts in hugely influenced by the society he/she belongs to, the society ultimately decides if the technology fails or succeeds. 


Religion - Different religions have different beliefs and values which may affect the way people look at or react to certain products or technologies. For example, Catholics do not believe in birth control and products like contraceptive pills and condoms would have a low chance of succeeding in a society where most of its people were Catholics. However, certain beliefs and values may be common in more than one religion or are just generally present in the society because of the way people live or are brought up. For example the belief that God is the Creator is something that many people live by, and as remarkable an achievement it may be for mankind to create another man, the creation of a human being through science is something that will never be accepted in many societies. It is something which many believe is wrong because moral boundaries have been crossed. As scientifically advanced and technically perfect as it may be, cloning; and similarly genetic engineering, cryogenics and organ farms may never succeed in this world for what they are intended to do because of religious and moral factors.

But then again who is to say what is right and what is wrong? One can argue that God never intended us to create another human being, but then again did he mean for us to create artificial hearts to help heart patients, prosthetic limbs to enable accident victims to walk again or to transplant kidneys to another body so that someone can lead a normal life? We can see that there is no fixed rule that governs the way a society thinks - it is a grey area; it can change depending on the situation such that maybe something that may not be accepted now may get accepted in 20 years or a century later.


Social rejection - A technology or product may be successful initially for all the benefits or usefulness that it was designed to bring about, and it does so, but then later labelled a disaster because it led to effects or events that were never intended to happen. Take Group B rally cars for example. In the 1980s, Group B cars were introduced to the world rally championships which saw cars like the Ford RS200 that produced up to 800 horsepower. They were literally F1 cars on the road. Subsequently, the number of deaths during these championship events increased dramatically and these included both drivers and spectators. This continued the following years and not long after, these cars were banned and new rules had to be introduced. However spectacular these cars might have been or how much entertainment they might have brought to viewers worldwide, society just cannot accept the consequences. Another example is nuclear power. It allows the generation of a huge amount power via an alternative source of raw material other than coal, but its inherent harmfulness and dangers of misuse are clear for all to see. And it was no surprise that after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, it was considered by many to be one of the greatest technological failures of the 20th century.


Time frame/Trends - A society goes through different generations and eras. Every community goes through changes and as time passes, the peoples’ views, needs, wants and behaviour change as well. In some societies they may change faster than the rest, but in others, they may not change at all. An innovation may fail because it is simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. It may be not wanted by people now but might have succeeded with the next generation of people. I remember the digital camera. When it first appeared on the market many years ago, its reception was uninspiring. People did not like the idea of digital cameras because they were expensive, had bad resolution compared to traditional photographs, hard to print onto hard copy and or simply because people were just sentimentally attached to the good old film cameras. Times have changed since then and digital cameras have not only become cheaper, more advanced, but also have more functions. With more and more people having internet access and becoming technologically literate, it is now very common to post photographs or exchange them over the internet. Almost everyone I know now has a digital camera and this would not have been the case without the evolution of the internet or if the people I know were from my father’s generation.

Trends in society also play a role in a technology failing. Just a few years ago, start up companies were all the rage as dot coms began sprouting out of nowhere. Everyone thought they could make it big without much effort, capital or expert skills. Many people tried to go into the industry but got burnt because they merely followed the trend and went in without much thinking and without a proper business plan or vision.


Thus, it can be seen how social factors play a part in causing a technology to fail. A product may be a total failure in one society, but a huge success in another. It may flop now, but then 10 years later, everyone needs it. Whether or not a product fails or succeeds sometimes cannot be calculated. Society cannot be predicted, just as life is unpredictable.