This paper argues that technologies perform in Janus faced ways; that is, in ways that are
ironic, perverse and paradoxical, and it is argued that these qualities are important to apprehend
if we are to more fully understand the role of technology in organizations and in our daily lives.
The argument opens with an account of Janus as a metaphorical evocation of irony and
paradox, and general examples of Janus faced technologies are given. Prominent philosophies
of technology and theoretical approaches to technology are discussed in terms of their capacity
to account for generalized examples of irony and paradox. Of these, it is argued that the most
satisfactory account is provided by (a) Heidegger’s suggestion that our world is enframed by
technology, taken together with (b) a logic of sociotechnical systems based in relational and
hybrid ontologies. This sketch of the philosophical landscape occupied by Janus is followed
by a interpretation of the specific case of mobile phones, which provides concrete and hopefully
vivid examples of the Janus faced performance of technology.
The conclusion reached is that the Janus faced metaphor and its philosophical context provides
the researcher with the analytic advantages of foregrounding uncertainty, avoiding an
essentialist or determinist role for technology, and allowing for the possibility of the presence
of tension and contradiction in accounts of sociotechnical outcomes.