Determinism in Technology #edcmooc

I think the idea of technological determinism is not necessarily a "sure thing." Chandler makes the argument (at least the way that I read it) that it is, and that new technologies and their evolution is inevitable.  And it doesn't seem to give way to free will in our choices for that new technology. What about our choices to reject that new technology because it isn't either useful to us in our lives?

I will be the first one to admit -- my house is "gadgeted out." To give an idea of the layout of the electronics in my house:

1) In the house we have two desktop computers: one is used specifically to watch Netflix and other videos that we find online only (it's hooked up to our flat screen television -- we don't have cable), and the other computer is my workstation computer (which tends to get commandeered by my husband and stepson when they want to play different computer games).

2) My husband has a tablet computer, and is thinking of getting another tablet that has Windows 8 that he can use for school (he was talking about selling the other one until I told him that I would take it).  My 4 year old has a little mini tablet that he got for Christmas from my mother in law that he plays games on (his favorite right now is Minecraft) and watches videos (again, most often related to Minecraft).

3) When my stepson comes over to the house, he often has his laptop or one of his little gaming devices on him.

4) My stepdaughter has a mini laptop, but also has a desktop in her room that she uses to mostly watch videos and talk to friends on Facebook.  There are weekends when she will have a bunch of friends over that all they'll do in her room is watch videos.

5) I have my own cheapo laptop that I use when someone has commandeered my workstation desktop.  I also own a Kindle that I use for playing a few games but mostly for storing and reading classic books for future teaching jobs as well as newer books.

6) Plus, hubby has a bunch of computer parts in the basement which he is either selling or planning on using to put computers together for other people.

So, as you can see, we aren't short on technology in our house.  But at the same time, except for a few instances, we don't tend to be "early adopters."  My Kindle I didn't buy until a few generations later.  We didn't think of getting any type of tablet computer until a couple of years after the iPad came out (which is not the one we got -- the one I'll be inheriting is an ASUS Transformer Prime).  There are very few "new" websites that I'm on, so when I discover one I'll usually give it a chance for awhile, but if I don't like it I abandon it.

Maybe it's because I'm around it so much here at school and at home, but I don't feel like I'm completely "ruled" by technology. I have control of what technologies that I choose to use -- I don't tend to adopt everything that comes my way, just those things that are useful.

#edcmooc