ABSTRACT
Technology change is an intervention into an ongoing field of activity. The technology provides the capability to generate tremendous networks of computer displays as a kind of virtual perceptual field viewable through the narrow aperture of the visual display unit. Technology change creates the potential for new kinds of error and system breakdown as well as changing the potential for previous kinds of trouble. It is not the technology itself that creates the problem; rather it is how the technological possibilities are utilized vis a vis the constraints and needs of the operational system. Technology is often designed to shift workload or tasks from the human to the machine. A syndrome, which Wiener has termed "clumsy automation," is one example of technology change that in practice imposes new burdens as well as some of the expected benefits. Results indicate that one example of clumsy automation can be seen in the interaction between pilots and flight management computers in commercial aviation.
