Misotechnophilia

At a strategic planning meeting today related to technology at Butler University, a colleague mentioned his love/hate relationship with technology. I thought that there ought to be a term for this. Another colleague suggested technoambivalence, but that seems to be different than love and hate.

So I suggested “misotechnophilia.” But does that term more readily refer to a love/hate relationship with technology, or to loving to hate technology?

I think that anyone who has a love/hate relationship only with new technology needs to reflect more on how they relate to technology they currently use. If they do not hate as well as love the keyboard, the mouse, the desktop computer, the television, the telephone, and indeed paper and ink, then they have probably simply grown accustomed to their shortcomings and adjusted their expectations accordingly. It is often the fact that we live in a time of technological change, together with unclear expectations of new technology, that lead to the hatred. That and what one person at the meeting called the “upgrade treadmill” – the fact that the pace of technological change is such that we scarcely have time to adjust to something new before we need to do so again.

Do you think of yourself as having a love/hate relationship with technology? If so, what do you think would be a good technical term for that?

Above image from MAD Magazine. HT Steinn Sigurðsson. Here are a couple more things I happened across online when searching for images to go with this post: