Technology traps: Who is responsible?

Technologies can have harmful effects on users' psychological health, on society, and on the environment. "Technology traps" arise when users and societies become stuck with technologies and the harmful consequences produced by these technologies. In this paper, the authors describe five technology traps: incompetence, self-miscontrol, misbehavior, techno-centrism, and environmental degradation. The authors then examine the share of ethical responsibility for these traps among end-users, businesses, and government.