>The "flipping out" aspect is something that does not seem to have a lot to do with technology at this time or in the past.

How so? Without technology we wouldn't have a "work week" in the first place and work would be much more directly tied to survival of the community and generally less negotiable in the first place. The "flipping out" came about precisely because technology changed what work was and what the conditions around it were while people noticed that those new expectations and conditions didn't actually seem necessary for their survival (or even much to their personal direct benefit vs the benefit of business owners).

Any technology that lets more be done with less time is an opportunity for a population to make an attempt to claim some of those gains for themselves.