Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.
Kranzberg's first law from 1986, and the "nor is it neutral" clause is the payload: technology's effects depend on context, so the same tool produces different outcomes in different institutions.
In practice
- A messaging platform is neither good nor bad, and it is not neutral: it makes some conversations trivially easy and group deliberation nearly impossible.
- The same diagnostic test in a well-funded system finds treatable disease early and in an underfunded one produces anxiety with no pathway.