In such instances, as Langdon Winner has written, technology can be nothing more than a solution frantically in search of a problem. Although most people do not embrace technology for its own sake, technology can engender new and unexpected consumer demands. Scarcely anyone anticipated the enormous volume of electronic mail now being carried on the Internet. Some of the messages supersede phone calls, letters, or faxes, but a large portion would not exist but for the technology. Offered a more convenient mechanism for doing so, Americans have found that they need to communicate more than ever.
Information can empower, but it can also immobilize.
Digital networks only exacerbate the problem. During the next phase of technological development, we need another Johann Gutenberg less than another Melvil Dewey. Technology sometimes modifies daily life in ways that no one could hope to foresee beforehand. A century ago the telephone eliminated many of the messengers who had shuttled information among downtown businesses. Elevators became less crowded, in turn, which made taller buildings feasible.