The Post-It note, a now ubiquitous office/home/everywhere tool, is less than 40 years old. “Business ideas that changed the world: The Post-It note” by Sara Rizk on startups.com, explains how those sticky yellow pads came to be, largely through a technological determinist perspective. A take on the “one great man” narrative that Winston discusses, this article talks about the invention of two men and how it changed the culture of office communications. The article emphasizes Spencer Silver’s invention of an adhesive that others dismissed as useless because it couldn’t form permanent bonds, and his persistence to his coworkers that it could be a successful product. It does not mention any other scientists whose work he was surely building off of. The article also discusses at length Art Fry, Silver’s coworker, and his “eureka moment.” He was in a church choir, trying to turn to the right page for a hymn, when his book mark fell out. Then and there, he realized the use for Silver’s invention, and the first Post-It was born.

While sticking to the extremes of either cultural or technological determinism is never the best way to analysis a new technology, I do believe that a technological determinist slant is helpful in this case. Despite how necessary Post-It notes seem now, there was not a giant cultural need for them; that is why it took so long to find a use for Silver’s perspective and for the product to successfully launch. Seeming to be a solution to a problem that no one really noticed they had, Post-Its did not respond to a culture, but they certainly did impact parts of ours.The article points to a cultural shift, citing to how the notes on PC desktops look like Post-Its, because that product is now linked with how with think of reminders or to do lists.

However, the argument can be made that the shift of the Post-It from a sticky bookmark to a note taking tool was a cultural shift. It was no what Post-Its were intended to do, but soon Fry realized it was a way that it could be used. In this way, the Post-It was shaped by a cultural need. This is further complicated by the fact that it was Fry who discovered this, meaning it can be written off as an additive to the ‘two great men narrative.’ Overall, I still think the technological determinist slant is more honest to the creation of the Post-It because it does fit into that narrative so well.