Capitalism, Technology, and the Digital Discourse

Expressions of wonder and awe in the face of new technology dominate public discourse and are indeed hard to contain. From new media technology to the Internet, from Google to global positioning systems (GPS) and cellphones—the overwhelming feeling of novelty and ingenuity embodied in these technologies—many of which are experienced firsthand by millions of individuals around the world—can easily slide toward what Vincent Mosco calls The Digital Sublime (2004), a fascination with (if not fetishization of) technology and its tremendous impact on our everyday life experience. The digital discourse is indeed precisely that body of knowledge that epitomizes this contemporary awe and the feeling that network technology changes everything, remaking society in its own image. But, as I have already pointed out in the Introduction, notwithstanding the tremendous ramifications of network technology on contemporary society, technology is not only the material basis of society but also its ideological foundation. Technology discourse is not a transparent vignette on reality but rather a direct influence on the construction of reality and is therefore worthy of analysis in its own right.