Alumni Book Club Reflection: The Shock of the Old
On March 27th 2025, MAS MTEC Alumni met to discuss a book which emphasised that while technological change is real, its impact is often misunderstood or exaggerated.
Our latest book club discussion revolved around external page The Shock of the Old, a read that challenges our assumptions about technological progress. As a good history book should, it brings our collective memory back, forcing us to reconsider the narratives we take for granted.
One of the book’s central arguments, in my opinion, is that while technological change is real, its impact is often misunderstood or exaggerated. We tend to believe we are living through unprecedented revolutions, but much of what we see as "new" is often just a rebranding of past ideas. The same rhetoric about technology transforming the world at an ever-increasing pace has been repeated throughout history. For example, early 20th-century discussions about aviation, telecommunications, and automation were strikingly similar to today’s conversations about AI and digital transformation. This realization is particularly relevant in the current era of artificial intelligence—even though the book predates GPT and modern AI advancements, its insights feel more contemporary than ever.
Another key takeaway is how the book debunks some of our cherished beliefs about technology’s transformative power. It broadens our understanding of what "technology" means, extending it beyond cutting-edge innovations to include long-lasting, everyday tools that continue to shape our lives. For instance, while we often fixate on new digital breakthroughs, the persistence of older technologies — such as railways, agricultural tools, or even fax machines in some industries — show that true transformation is often slower and more complex than we assume.
We also spent time unpacking the book’s intriguing title—why The Shock of the Old? Various interpretations emerged during our discussion. My personal take was that the real "shock" lies in discovering how technologies we once viewed as disruptive were, in fact, far less revolutionary than we believed. Yet, interestingly, the story behind the title is a little different. The author, external page David Edgerton, originally wanted to call the book The Uses of Things, but the publisher rejected it. Instead, he proposed The Shock of the Old as a deliberate contrast to the well-known book The Shock of the New by Australian art critic Robert Hughes. Edgerton later acknowledged that this change likely contributed to the book’s success.
The book covers an impressively wide range of examples and topics, making it a dense but rewarding read for anyone interested in the real, lived history of technology.
Join us for the next Alumni Book Club—we promise good company, lively debate, and maybe even a few surprises about the things we thought we knew.
