Skip to main content



Path Dependency of Technology – Typewriter and Synthesizer

Path Dependency of Technology – Typewriter and Synthesizer
Joon Hyuck Moon

dvorak

In the Chapter 17, we have discussed how the current state of network can affect decisions of individual members. In this model, individual choice of product or behavior tends to follow that of majority in networks, endowing dominacne to particular product or behavior. And such phenomenon is named “path dependency” in the field of socio-technological studies. In the concept of path dependency, past behaviors or norms affect and limit the future development. If the technology is so widespread that everybody is used to its mechanism, people might refuse to adopt a new technology even after the old one proves to be ineffective. The “change” requires a certain degree of effort, so people will be uninclined to discard their familiarity unless the efficiency increase is large enough.

History have shown two representative cases of path dependency: the history of typewriter and synthesizer. For the typewriters (or keyboards), the QWERTY arrangement all of us are using now serves as an example of path dependency. Originally, the strange order of QWERTY… etc was due to the limitations of early typewriters; whenever the writer tried to press two or more neighboring keys in a fast pace, a physical error occurred inside the machine, resulting in a “crash” of the pressed letters. To solve this problem, the inventor Christopher Sholes distributed “the most used keys” as far as possible to each other, so that the frequency of crash would decrease. After the machine was improved, however, people still preferred QWERTY arrangement, since it was what they used for more than years. Although more efficient arrangements such as Dvorak and Colemak emerged since then, they nevertheless couldn’t defy the dominance of inefficient yet familiar QWERTY system. Surely it was an outcome of the path dependency.

The story of synthesizers, on the other hand, also illustrates the effect of path dependency theory. When Moog first released synthesizer, it used different types of ‘modules’ rather than modern keyboard type interface. However, people could not immediately accept it as an “instrument”; it did not produce sounds promptly, and had to take some complex procedures to operate. It was important to follow the existing images of instrument, and provide people the feeling that “you’re making music” for this invention to succeed. As a result, Moog changed the appearance of the machine to more piano-like construction, so that it might be accepted by the musicians more easily. On the other hand, he also developed a ribbon controller whose appearance evokes guitars, to appeal to those who play string instruments. As the pre-existing norms of people affected the direction of the development, the case of synthesizers can also serve as an example of path dependency.

 

David, P. A. Clio and the Economics of QWERTY. S.l.: [s.n.], 1985. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1805621?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents)

Pinch, T. J., and Frank Trocco. “Chapter 3. Shaping the Synthesizer.” In Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Blogging Calendar

December 2015
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  

Archives