Abandoned Quote by Johannes Grenzfurthner
“The widespread inability to understand technological artifacts as fabricated entities, as social and cultural phenomena, derives from the fact that in retrospect only those technologies that prove functional for a culture and can be integrated into everyday life are 'left over.' However, the perception of what is functional, successful and useful is itself the product of social and cultural--and last but not least--political and economic processes. Selection processes and abandoned products and product forms are usually not discussed.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Cultural Critique of Technology, 2015
Explains that technologies survive because societies deem them useful, shaped by cultural, political, and economic forces
In simple terms: Surviving tech reflects societal values, not just function
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions about why certain tech persists
Themes
technology
culture
politics
economics
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
theoretical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- product design
- technology policy
- museum curation
- academic research
Key Concepts
social construction
artifact lifecycle
market dynamics
Questions to Reflect On
- What technologies might we lose by focusing only on successful ones?
- How do power structures shape what we consider 'functional'?
A Different Perspective
Often overlooks grassroots innovation and informal uses that influence adoption
![“[The] tremendous and still accelerating development of science and technology has not been accompanied by an equal development in social, economic, and political patterns...We are now...only beginning to explore the potentialities which it offers for developments in our culture outside technology…” quote by Ralph Linton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1fb/ralph-linton-72361_adaption_the-tremendous-and-still-accelerating-de_2794607.jpg)
