Deb Schultz inspired a recent Hugh MacLeod cartoon and the more I read it, the more I agree with it. We keep inventing cool stuff. “Technology” isn’t just computers you know, it’s phones, machinery, bikes, everything. Packed in some box of books is my text from my Greek and Roman Technology course. When I look at that book, then look around at my house we’re all still trying to do the same stuff. We need clothes, shelter, food. We want to communicate with each other. We need to go places. We want to keep track of things.
We fast forward a while and our technologies have gotten fancier, but our needs and more importantly our limitations as people have remained the same. Me, Jim, you fair reader–we’re pretty cutting edge. We “get it”. We’ve drank the Kool-Aid. The rest of the world, not so much.
Our job now isn’t to convince people that these new technologies are awesome, it’s to explain how these new technologies are just new ways to solve old problems.
Think about e-mail. Technological change, but meeting a need (communication) that has been around forever. E-mail, people get. Why? Because people started to “get it”. All our other stuff is still working through that stage. Time will tell how well we’ve done our jobs.
Tris - you are spot on! If the technology did not serve some sort of human need it probably would not exist. The challenge is to create technologies that behave or enhance our human-ness and for we early adopter types to be able to express and demonstrate the value in terms that are simple and resonate.
Thanks Deb. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Maybe there is a reason why e-mail is still the “killer app”.
Great post. Part of the resistance also seems to come from a desire to remain the “expert.” New technology comes with a learning curve that can appear threatening, even when the positives are explained. And what happens if you can’t figure it out as fast as your neighbor? We’re competitive creatures. We take comfort in “knowing everything,” or at least knowing everything in our environment. Change freaks people out, even when it comes with a benefit.
Britt that’s an awesome point. I remember the care I had to take with an executive who was learning to type for the first time in his 20+ years of work.