One of the major weaknesses in many of the studies that examine technological development is conceptual. The root cause of the problem lies with a powerful belief system which emerged out of the successful marriage of consensus politics (a model of political interaction premised on the notion of rationality and compromise) with a belief in technological omnipotence. This belief system, what we have called the 'dominant orthodoxy', has become a powerful instrument of the status quo, a form of institutionalized bias which, in presupposing the inevitability and objectivity of the process, stifles the potential for opposition. It functions as a deterrent to critical analysis. Using a case study approach, this study examines a relationship ignored in these studies; namely, the relationship between technology and power.;Conceptualized in this way the structural constraints to participation become an important variable in understanding both the course and consequences of technological development. Two key questions emerge as a consequence: (1) Why pursue this particular option? Whose interests and needs are served by the project? and (2) Given that this type of technology has the potential to reinforce or compromise the established order, how has this affected the development of videotex?;The study has been designed to reconstruct (as opposed to measure) an event. It draws heavily upon documentary sources and interview data. While the trends established are less robust than initially expected, due largely to the rate at which this 'industry' is developing, the findings confirm the suggestion that technology tends to be absorbed into the existing institutional structure to expand the control of those who are already powerful. The study provides a clue to the shape this technology and industry might assume as it matures.;Starting from the assumption that technology is pursued for partisan purposes, this study focuses on the actors who shape the process, 'pushing' technology in directions consistent with their own interests and needs in the belief, that who emerges as the dominant force in the process will have a significant effect on the shape the technology assumes and the problems that ensue.
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