Is Technology Outpacing Usefulness?
from the second-hand-second-rate-technology dept
Microsoft’s top researcher Richard F. Rashid speculates that “technology in some ways is outpacing people’s ability to use it meaningfully.” Citing the accelerating creation of digital detritus that our increasingly tech-centric lives create, Rashid claims that the data created is well ahead of any meaningful use for it. Is this really a problem? Don’t the uses for technology usually follow its availability? True, there will always be futurists that try and predict what will be, but practical applications of technologies usually lag technical feasibility.
Comments on “Is Technology Outpacing Usefulness?”
No Subject Given
Very true. Lots of features, not alot of education.
People still wonder why we have virus and spyware infections. It’s because people still don’t know how to (successfully) use their computer. There’s still entire generations out there that aren’t part of the digital age, but they need a new PC every 6 months because it keeps crashing because they don’t know how to use it.
My theory – the first company (MS listen up) that actually sits down with the user and explains to them why exactly it’s important to update software and security patches will dominate the market.
Either that, or wait until those people kick off and then run head-first into the market hoping to gather more of a market share with shiny objects.
No Subject Given
I think maybe he means that people aren’t getting enough time to explore all a product’s functionality to full extent before marketing forces something else on them.
This is definitely not a good thing, as it means feedback to inventors is constrained with “but I haven’t had time to explore it yet”, ie is pretty worthless.