Technological literacy is essential for participation and competition in modern culture.

Technological literacy serves to combat the functions and products of Technopoly (Postman 1992) by providing a system of order, a way for people to determine what information they want, what technology they want to access and how, and thereby avoid the paralysis of information overload.

Can literacy exist without technology? Can technology exist without literacy? Baron (2008) might argue that literacy requires technology, even if it is as seemingly simple as the pencil. Since much of what is done on the web is reading and writing, you can't have technological literacy without traditional literacy.

A person who is technologically literate must be able to evaluate the potential uses and abuses of current, past, and future technologies (Selfe 1999).

A person who is technologically literate is able to avoid the dangers of Postman's idea of expertise by having multiple competencies and/or expertise across areas. 

A technologically literate person must be open to change and must be willing to learn, embrace, and interpret technology as it evolves.

Although it was hoped that technology would reduce the socioeconomic divide, it has only widened it. To truly be technologically literate, a person must have the financial means to gain access to the technology, and many simply do not. 

Technological literacy does not merely produce a tool or people capable of using tools. It is not just a skill set. We need broader lenses to examine the ways in which people use and consider technology.