Invention is the mother of necessity

Kranzberg’s second law states: ‘Invention is the mother of necessity’ (Kranzberg 1986) – where technology develops it leads to more technological development. Kranzberg 1 describes this when considering the rise of computer-based technologies as a further development of the industrial revolution.

How this law applies to the development of web technologies can be seen in an unusual but interesting article by Coopersmith 2 Coopersmith discusses how the rise of cyber sex has driven the development and introduction of new technologies to meet demand – supporting Kranzberg’s second law with development driving need and stimulating need that further drives development.

In particular, he considers the ‘diffusion of new ICT’ with the population of cyber sex uses being young, wealthy, early adopters. He also identifies the need for greater download speeds, bandwidth, and interactive games. He cites research that ‘cybersex users apparently frequent the Internet more heavily, operate at a more advanced level, and otherwise demand more than non-cybersex users.’  Search terms in the top 100 continue to include: hot, girls, nudist, bikini and the names of several popular female celebrities/models.

Considering the role of sex and technology in history also shows a similar trend – printing, not originally intended for sex use, accelerated by pornography; photography; videos; phone sex lines; SMS-chat lines; etc.

Does this apply to education and pedagogy? Have new learning technologies lead to further technologies? Certainly Generation Y and Z learners have expectations about learning technologies that are driving pedagogical change. For example, my learners expect to be able to submit work electronically, to contact me by SMS and email and there is an increasing demand amongst them for my teaching materials to be available online for reference and re-visiting. As good teaching is learner responsive, learner expectations will always to some extent result in change. On balance, Kranzberg’s second law appears to have some validity within the teaching context.

  1. Kranzberg, Melvin (1967) ‘Computers: new values for society’, Management Review, 56(2), pp. 30-34, (online) EBSCOhost  Available from: http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=6069784&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed 30 January 2011)
  2. Coopersmith, J. (2006) ‘Does Your Mother Know What You Really Do? The Changing Nature and Image of Computer-Based Pornography’, History and Technology, 22(1), pp. 1-25, (online) EBSCOhost  Available from: http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=19761848&site=eds-live&scope=site (Accessed 30 January 2011).

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