A Socio-Technical Approach to the History of the Payphone

By Fanny Carmagnat
English

SOCIO-TECHNICAL APPROACH TO THE HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC TELEPHONE

In this article the history of the public telephone provides the material for a critical analysis of two theoretical currents on techniques. The first, represented by Gilbert Simondon, posits an evolution of technical objects towards an ideal of simplicity and coherence obtained exclusively from their technical and material components. According to him, the shift from a telephone where the functions of communication and pre-payment were separated to an integration of these two functions is an illustration of the concept of "concretization" of a technical object. However, the new socio-history of techniques represented by Thomas Hugues seems to provide a more satisfactory explanation for the different phases in the history of public telephony by bringing into play both technical and non-technical elements.

Keywords

Go to the article on Cairn-int.info