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The notion of ‘niche’has proved to be useful to account for the emergence of radical innovations. Most studies, however, deal with the development of single emerging technologies. In this paper we address the competition between multiple niche technologies.Within the niche of the ‘car of the future’ two options compete: the battery-electric and the hydrogen car. While both are shielded from regular market forces, they have to compete in terms ofR&Dfunding, supportive regulation and infrastructure build-up. In our case study we trace the competition in terms of design rules and expectations and show how attention for both options has alternated in three phases, which followthe high hopes and subsequent disappointments of the different component technologies. Whereas there is room for simultaneously developed, multiple options at the local level, at the global level attention and expectations seem much more focused on either the one or the other.

Sustainability is an umbrella term that covers many things. In this paper we study the process of articulation, which includes both the specification of broader terms into more detailed ones, as well as the legitimation of plans and outcomes of R&D. In case of two nanocoating technologies (sol-gel and PVD/CVD) in German regions, we studied the implicit assumptions about future developments, strategies and research agendas. An important finding is that sustainability tends to be articulated in combination with other aspects, such as lower costs, which may then become 'vehicles' for sustainability. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Literature on technological decline and related concepts is growing. We aim to advance theorizations of the dynamics of technological decline by mobilizing the concept of sociotechnical configuration and a metaphor of its “unraveling.” We take as a case study the declined Soviet computer series Ural. Ural was once among the top three most used computers in the former Soviet Union, but went into decline and got lost even before the dissolution of the country. We find that technological decline is not a trivial process, it is not guaranteed to be gradual but can feature sudden shifts. These shifts can be drops of production and loss of knowledge, as well as efforts to push back. Policy could make use of ongoing processes of decline and try to replicate the effect of the decline of Ural via cessation of access to materials and competences and delegitimation of the technology.