This post is not meant to completely answer this question.  I have some ideas, but I’d love to hear from you!

1.  Fear of change.  Fear of the Unknown.  I dont’ know if this is an actual reason people have for fear of technology, because I know this doesn’t apply to me, but I know some people may worry about the change and how that could affect them.

2.  Fear of Big Brother.  I think this one is a big one!  This is a fear that I worry about: does Google know too much?  Does Facebook know too much about me?  How are these companies using that data, and how might it be used against me.  Although I’m a daily user of both these services, I wonder sometimes about the implications.  What about you?

3.  Fear of falling behind.  I think some people don’t like to embrace technology, because of Moore’s Law.  They figure by the time they learn how to do something and feel comfortable with it, it’s going to change on them anyway… so why learn it in the first place?  Although I think this fear is somewhat unfounded, I can see why it’s a concern.

What other reasons might someone have for fearing technology, or fearing to learn new technology (hardware, software, etc.)?

What can technology companies do to alleviate these fears?  One might say they could better the user experience, which has certainly been Apple’s forte.  What else could be done?  Are there any design considerations that could make things easier for people to embrace?

I’m totally open for thoughts now… I’ve just been thinking about this for a while, and just now thought I should put the question out there.