Five things we need to know about technological change

Neil Postman

In view of his writings, is Neil Postman an optimist, a pessimist or neutral about technology? Briefly explain your answer.

In the writings, Postman is considered to be neutral on technology. This is because he is discussing the benefits and drawbacks that it is offering in five points. These include: everyone pays a price for technology, there are winners / losers, there are prejudices, the transformations are ecological and technology can become mythic. These different elements are showing the positive and negative effects of technology on everyone. ("Neil Postman," 2000)

In the case of everyone paying a price for technology, this is means that there are major transformations occurring. This is taking place during times when new innovations are being introduced. In this process, there will be sudden shifts in daily life. For example, when the I Pod was introduced, this changed how everyone listened to and purchased music. The winners were: Apple, retailers who were selling their product and consumers. However, for the record industry and traditional music outlets, this led to declining revenues. These areas are illustrating how major developments will lead to sudden shifts in behavior. ("Neil Postman," 2000)

The winners and losers are the different parties who are benefiting from these changes and others that are left behind. Evidence of this occurred with the introduction of the automobile and society becoming more efficient / mobile. While at the same time, the industry that supported horses and carriages lost. These shifts are highlighting how changes in technology will benefit everyone unequally. Instead, it will have different effects for certain stakeholders. ("Neil Postman," 2000)

Prejudices will occur when transformations, happen based upon: economic, political and social factors. This means that select segments in society will be able to benefit from these changes. While others, will see little to no effect until much later on. This is the point that there is a transformation in who is able to gain from any kind of advancements that are occurring. ("Neil Postman," 2000)

The ecological transformations are when major changes are impacting the environment and everything surrounding it. This leads to massive adjustments in daily life and the way everyone is interacting with each other. In some cases, this means that select parties who could control these mediums. While at other times, these actions are limited by increasing amounts of competition and regulations. According to Postman, this is preventing a single party from controlling these areas. When this happens, it will ensure that these changes benefit stakeholders fairly. ("Neil Postman," 2000)