To say that those who question/criticize technologies are nostalgic luddites, just won't do.
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Agreed.
Were I to make this error, I'd be forced to describe myself as a "nostalgic Luddite" inasmuch as I question/criticize technology everyday.
But of course, I do so from the point of view of a person who's not techno averse; the technophillia often prompts people to quickly assume I'm in favor of any and all machine things in their present, or imagined future form.
This isn't the case.
Consider, for example, my attitude towards computers the "Proteus of machines" as Seymour Papert ( <http://www.papert.org/> ) once put it.
Ideally, computers and software should be tools for enhancing communication, extending human cognitive abilities and creating new means for accomplishing a staggering list of things. And to some extent, they are.
But the dreams of early researchers have been dashed -- not necessarily by the current or foreseeable limitations of the technology (which aren't really known in any rigorous way) -- but by the fact this tech mostly serves as capitalism's machina analytica: the command and control heart of advanced, profit-driven process.
Instead of the ubiquitous and useful data interfaces of, for example, "2001, A Space Odyssey" <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/> (in which no corporate logo is seen on any devices...an imaginary state where academia and government produced the most sophisticated tools for common use) we have Microsoft Windows, part tool, part marketing/sales delivery platform, part monopoly preservation system. Not all bad, to be sure, but very, very far from being even mostly good as a social instrument.
There are zero technical barriers to creating a globally accessible data grid that makes all accumulated knowledge available to everyone everywhere. There are, however, countless capitalist erected barriers preventing this from coming to pass.
Only one example.
So, yes, I do question/criticize technology every single day and do not consider people who also do so Luddites.
Now, it's undeniable that not all criticisms are equally helpful. For example, those who criticize by comparing the present to an imagined past are not being very helpful. No, I'm not specifically accusing anyone of this merely pointing out the fact that there are categories and levels (in terms of quality and usefulness) of criticism.
.d.