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Chapter four, the final case study, shows how the persistence of local equine practices permeated the form and functionality of the jeep in the Philippines after World War II. Motorization represented the effort of the Filipino people to practically “ingest” a technology whose resemblance to its foreign origins became a mere suggestion. Evidence includes historical accounts, the Philippine Commission Report of 1899–1900,12 physical artifacts such as decorative motifs and symbolic icons, phone interviews conducted in the Ilocano and the Tagalog (Filipino) dialects, and contemporary accounts and reflections of local literary scholars.
This study suggests that technological change, particularly that surrounded by controversy, sometimes involves the counterintuitive measure of keeping certain elements, concepts, practices, and forms “unchanged.” A nascent controversial device may benefit from the goodwill and popularity earned by its predecessor by assuming some of its functionality, physical representation, and work routines.