Play’s Republic

The Kline reading seems to veer away from technological determinism and take a more social construction of technology approach. Here is a quick overview of the theory from Wikipedia:

Technological determinism is a reductionist doctrine that a society’s technology determines its cultural values, social structure, or history.
Technological determinism has been summarized as ‘The belief in technology as a key governing force in society …’ (Merritt Roe Smith), ‘… the belief that social progress is driven by technological innovation, which in turn follows an “inevitable” course.’ (Michael L. Smith), ‘The idea that technological development determines social change …’ (Bruce Bimber), ‘… the belief that technical forces determine social and cultural changes.’ (Thomas P. Hughes); ‘… a three-word logical proposition: “Technology determines history”‘ (Rosalind Williams)
Most interpretations of technological determinism share two general ideas:
1) That the development of technology itself follows a path largely beyond cultural or political influence, and
2) That technology in turn has “effects” on societies that are inherent, rather than socially conditioned
Technological determinism stands in opposition to the theory of the social construction of technology, which holds that both the path of innovation and the consequences of technology for humans are strongly if not entirely shaped by society itself, through the influence of culture, politics, economic arrangements, and the like.

Technology is not seen as the main instigator of social change. Instead, technological innovation is combined with social situation and institutions to create new technologies. In chapter four Kline explains, “the introduction of radically new technological directions and the creation of organizational forms capable of taking advantage of these technologies is rare.” Technology tends to improve incrementally and social institutions must facilitate such improvement. The genealogy of the video game is an example of the many components—social as well as technological—that, together, promotes innovation. Highlighting social components, Kline writes, “It is at the intersection of warfare state and hacker culture that we find the point of departure for the digital play industry.”