high technology
Technology Acceleration
Technology is a GOOD THING. Well, most of the time it is.
I’m sure you’ve seen articles bemoaning the NEGATIVE role that technology advancement has played in our lives. I have recently joined the ranks of those doing the bemoaning.
Gadgets are Great
Don’t get me wrong–I’m a tech guy through and through. I’ve chosen to work in the technology industry for 20 years, and I love gadgets as well as the next guy. I’ve got TIVO, a laptop, a cell phone, Wi-Fi, all the standard Hi-Tech fare. I’m an email fanatic. With great anticipation I’m eyeing Home Theater equipment; just waiting for prices to drop a little more and for standards to settle a bit. I love many of the things that technology does to enrich our personal lives, and embrace the productivity improvements that it brings to doing business. And I believe that those who create new technologies and products ALMOST ALWAYS have good intentions, from a societal perspective.
The Law of Unintended Consequences
But I also believe that the law of unintended consequences is alive and thriving in the technology marketplace. In creating products and services that didn’t previously exist in our world, the good is sometimes offset (and occasionally overwhelmed) by effects on the negative side of the ledger.
Take automobiles, for example. Certainly cars are no longer an example of new technology. But at the turn of the century, they represented one of the greatest leaps forward in technology, and have had wide-ranging, positive societal effects. Autos provided a completely different level of personal mobility, with too many positive effects on our daily lives to list. For businesses, the enhanced business productivity was so enormous that it not only lowered costs, but also allowed totally new businesses to be conceived. Autos and the internal combustion engine that enabled them are truly among the great inventions of all time. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: high technology, media and technology