The Unintended Consequences of Technological Innovation: Bluetooth Technology and Cultural Change

As our knowledge and understanding of our natural world have increased, so has our desire to explore, manipulate and change the world around us. A prime example is our drive for technological innovation. We seek to harness new and emerging technologies to improve the quality of life, to increase efficiency, lower costs, and overcome the barriers of time, distance, geography and other physical limitations. We believe technological innovations will improve the way we live, work, play, and learn, and enhance the quality of human life. We move forward with our inventions, creations and innovations, anticipating the positive benefits innovations will have for us all. But there are unintended consequences as well and this has become an emerging area of policy making and research. This paper examines the unintended consequences of Bluetooth technology and how it has hastened both desirable and undesirable cultural change.