“I Can Operate It, but I Don’t Understand It…”

Routine-Based Technology Use among Assembly Line Workers in a Rural Industrial Small Town

Abstract

This article examines everyday technology use among assembly line workers living in a rural small town industrial context. The research is based on a qualitative case study drawing on 18 semi-structured interviews with workers who are employed on a daily basis in technologically highly structured production-line environments. The analysis explores how relationships to modern technologies are shaped in a social and labour market context where technological modernization does not translate into the expansion of autonomous digital competences. The findings show that technology use in this group is best understood as routine-based, risk-averse adaptation. Workplace technology use is highly standardized, rule-bound, and closely monitored, enabling efficient production while limiting autonomy and the development of transferable technological skills. These workplace experiences are closely connected to everyday technology use at home, where respondents rely on narrow “safe” repertoires, avoid complex digital functions, and frequently delegate technological decisions to family members. The article argues that these patterns should not be interpreted simply as deficits in digital competence. Rather, they represent rational adaptive strategies within a rural industrial context characterized by constrained labour market opportunities and limited learning horizons, contributing to the reproduction of digital inequalities in terms of autonomy of use rather than access.