ABSTRACT
The single most influential explanation of the relationship between technology and society is the theory of technological determinism. Although the scientists and technicians who produce new technologies are members of society, their activities are seen to be independent of their social location. Completely dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and its practical application, they are represented as above sectional interests and politics. Even the so-called revolutions in technology turn out to have been long in the making. Existing technology is thus an important precondition of new technology. But it is not the only force shaping new technology. Technological systems are oriented to a goal and that goal is normally about reducing costs and increasing revenues. Electricity supply systems, for example, have been private or public enterprises, and those who have run them have inevitably been concerned above all with costs, profits and losses.
