Technodeterminism

Despite the rapid technological change and phenomena such as → technology fatigue, the opposite behavior also arises. The adherence to outdated technology.

A prominent example is the fax machine. The technological foundation of the fax machine was developed as early as 1843 by the Scottish inventor Alexander Bain. Although its technological basis is almost 200 years old and it has largely been replaced by email and cloud services since the early 2000s, it still finds application in certain areas.

The reasons for this are diverse. Established work processes and ingrained routines, the perception of higher security or legal binding in sensitive sectors such as healthcare or legal institutions, as well as the reluctance towards the effort and costs of a system change. Often, the attitude prevails that functioning technology does not need to be changed.

However, this adherence brings significant risks and disadvantages. Outdated systems are more vulnerable to security gaps as they often no longer receive regular updates. In the year 2022, 78 % of devices used outdated firmware without security updates. They are less efficient, work slower, and are hardly compatible with modern requirements. Maintenance and operation become increasingly expensive, spare parts are hard to obtain, and the expertise for handling the old technology is dwindling.

The example of the fax machine illustrates the inertia of institutional structures and the human tendency to cling to the familiar – even when it is technologically outdated and causes objective disadvantages.