Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiquitous Computing

Computerization movement (CM), as first articulated by Rob Kling, refers to a special kind of social and technological movement that promotes the adoption of computing within organizations and society. Here, editors Margaret S. Elliott and Kenneth L. Kraemer and more than two dozen noted scholars trace the successes and failures of CMs from the mainframe and PC eras to the current Internet era and the emerging era of ubiquitous computing.

Through theoretical analyses, systematic empirical studies, field-based studies, and case studies of specific technologies, the book shows CMs to be driven by Utopian visions of technology that become part of the ether within society, creating a general bias in favor of computing adoption. The empirical studies presented here show the need for designers, users, and the media to be aware that CM rhetoric can propose grand visions that never become part of a reality, and reinforce the need for critical and scholarly review of promising new technologies.