"Mr. Phonograph, Are You There?": Mechanical Failure and Technological Determinism, 1877-1900

When Thomas Edison handed over his 1877 invention of the phonograph-the new sound recording technology-to a group of investors to market across the U.S, the company lacked the proper expertise, manufacturing, and supply networks to do so. This article traces one company's struggle in dealing with the recurring malfunction of exhibition phonographs, which impacted how audiences came to view the innovation. In doing so, the article revisits the issue of technological determinism as parsed by scholars such as Bruno Latour, Robert Heilbroner, Thomas Hughes, Donald MacKenzie, and Judy Wajcman. Investigating under what circumstances one innovation enjoys more (or less) autonomy vis-à-vis social forces, the case study suggests that scholars should make more granular assessments of how technology and society impact each other.