Despite a dramatic growth in interest in technology over the last two decades, this has not resulted in a clear understanding of either the nature of technological change or the basis for its regulation. Part of the problem is the ambiguous heritage of science, technology and society studies which rose to prominence in the 1970s. This paper seeks to provide a theoretical scheme for categorising the commonly used models of technological change: to outline the limitations of ‘technocratic’ and ‘technophobic’ approaches to technology and social development and argue for the superiority of an explicitly ‘technochoice’ approach; and to discuss the dominant models for the public control of technology.