In Dave Anderson's paper on technological determinism we were introduced to the idea that to create new technology we must destroy old. This is a severely flawed argument. Yes, certainly, because the tools we use would no longer be available to us. But, that does not mean that we couldn't revert to formerly popular tools. We still have the knowledge to produce, and operate these machines.
Technology is a tool.
It's effects on the future are solely dependent on how man chooses to use it, and develop it.