A Tip of the Old-Hat to Ellul

I really enjoy when things can be nuanced and it seems that the French have the upper hand when it comes to media theology!  Imagine having two different words that are translated into English as technology - technique and technologie.  Jacques Ellul draws this out and plays with it to his advantage.  As he says:

I know the difficulty of this semantic problem in English, for there is only one single word, technology, to designate both la technique (the concrete thing) and la technologie (the discourse, the teaching of the subject itself)...The English word technology essentially concerns the work fo engineers, chiefly in the industrial milieau...la technique is a far wider concept referring to efficient methods applicable in all areas (Perspectives on our Age: Chp 2).
But I preempt a certain head scratching occurring right now.  What is this nuance?

For me, to introduce it, I see it as the difference between asking one of two questions about the new bright shiny smartphone or tablet in your hand: What is that in your hand? or Why is that in your hand?  When we realise we have a better answer for the first then the second, then just maybe, Ellul's concept of the technological bluff comes to the fore.

So I'll tip the old-hat to Ellul for seeking to draw attention to the pervasive nature of technique as it attempts to convince us that technology is our final greatest hope.  Ellul refers to this as shifting to a place where we have faith in technology. Ellul calls this the technological bluff which:

consists essentially of rearranging everything in terms of technical progress, which with prodigious diversification offers us in every direction such varied possibilities that we can imagine nothing else…a demonstration of the prodigious power, diversity, success, universal application, and impeccability of techniques…[where] technique is regarded in advance as the only solution to collective problems…or individual problems…and because at the same time it is seen as the only chance for progress and development in every society (The Technological Bluff: Introduction)

Ellul offers a challenging warning.  Not a pessimistic rejection.  He has, for me, challenged both my acceptance and rejection of technique and technology.  Whilst only just over thirty, I still love the crackle of a vinyl record over the MP3 track.  I still prefer to hold a book in my hand than a device as I read - a actually at times even judge a book by its cover thinking those who take the time to consider what a book might feel like in a readers hands have a little something else to offer.  I see social media as a useful tool not a way of life.  But I would prefer to write an email than pick up the phone.  I think that I should be able to watch my football team play live despite any time differences. 

I want technology to both make my life easier and at the same time I don't want technology to change the things in life I love.  Ellul has for me, encouraged that I ask questions beyond this simplicity by drawing attention to the technological bluff to which both these attitudes can subscribe.