All technology goes through a process in which it evolves from a technology that is not part of society or culture to a technology that influences and is part of modern society.    This evolution of technology is highlighted in Dennis Barron's "From Pencils to Pixels".  This evolutionary process is clearly defined into concrete parts within Barron's argument; consequently, Barron argues his evolutionary process using support from other academic articles.   One of Barron's support is Carolyn Marvin book When Old Technologies Were New.  This book discusses the importance of and influence of social class on the development of technology itself as well as the fear of the unknown that many people have when a new technology is introduced into society.  Barron uses some of Marvin's ideas in his article but also draws on one of Marvin sources, a book by Thomas P.  Hughes.  Both Marvin and Hughes books provide support for Barron's article.

Barron used Marvin's book to support his claim when he discusses the development of technology.  Barron says, " Because of the high cost of the technology and general ignorance about it, practitioners keep it to themselves at first -- either on purpose or because nobody else has any use for it -- and then, gradually, they begin to mediate the technology for the general public. The technology expands beyond this “priestly” class when it is adapted to familiar functions often associated with an older, accepted form of communication".   This is interpreted from Marvin's book where she discusses the effect that social class and the fear of the unknown.   Marvin believes that when a new technology is introduced it is met with fear.  Eventually this fear will dissipate and the technology will become integrated into society.    Furthermore, Marvin discusses how a new technology is built from a older accepted technology.  She argues that the real resistance to accept the technology comes from the changes that it will bring to a social class.  Barron uses this idea when he says that the practitioners keep the technology to themselves until it is a vital part of their class, then it moves to the rest of the population.  In addition to helping support his thesis Barron uses Marvin's beliefs as evidence in explaining the development of the telephone.  Both Barron and Marvin argue that at first the telephone was seen as a replacement for earlier technology and competed with things like the radio.  Barron uses Marvin's argument to explain why the telephone developed slowly.  Only a few people used the phone and the rest of the population was scared or fearful of the phone because of the fear of the unknown.   The fear of the unknown with the telephone was the uncertainty of who someone was talking to, did they really know who they were talking to on the other end of the phone, and the fear of not having a conversation written down, like the telegraph did.  This led the telephone to develop slowly, until it became a crucial part of society.

Just like Barron, Marvin uses other sources to further or support her claims.  One of these sources in Networks of Power Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 by Thomas P. Hughes.  In his book, Hughes discusses the impact knowledge has on society.  Barron draws on this idea when he discusses how a small group of people hold on to a technology until the general public becomes knowledgeable and comfortable with the technology.  Hughes also argues that a technology should cause excitement, and then people will accept it, Hughes successfully does this and his technology of a universal electric supply system is implemented into society.  Barron uses this when he talks about how a technology must have both quality and cost, and to get people to recognize quality and cost one must be excited about the technology.   Both Marvin and Barron use some of Hughes ideas to gather support for their arguments that technology must go through a process before it becomes crucial to society. 

In Dennis Barron's article "From Pencils to Pixels”, he discusses the process that each technology must go through in order to become a crucial part of society.  This process includes a small group of people, the practitioners, getting the technology first and then becoming familiar to it, then the general public overcoming their fears and accepting that technology, and finally the technology becoming part of society.  To support his claim Barron uses Carolyn Marvin's book When Old Technologies Were New, where she discusses the importance people’s fear in the development of technology.  Then drawing from one of Marvin's sources, Networks of Power Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 by Thomas P.  Hughes, Barron incorporates some of their ideas into support for his thesis about how new technology develops from a technology that is already accepted after it overcomes the fear of society. 

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