Tuesday 13 November 2012

How technology gets improved by generations

Technology always improves. Where there is an argument about that improvement is improvement for whom.

Every technology serves the people who use it, so where a range of products were invented by one group of people, their children might use that technology in a totally different way.
There are plenty of examples, but their relevance is dependent on your understanding of technology! Mention video recorders, and how they were designed as time shifters, but ended up as media players, and anyone under 20 has no real understanding of what you are on about!
Talk about mp3 players, and how they became iPods because of ITunes, and they might grasp what you mean.  However, anyone over 50 will be lost!

Technology moves from the lab to the home over around 20 to 30 years. While it might be fun to look at a modern technology and pin point these moves, its better to look at a technology that has already moved from bleading edge to commodity and see how it then gets layers of advancements. 

Want to predict the future?  Look at the way that electricity distribution from the mid 19th century mirrors the way the internet has been distributed since the early 90s.  Then start making a projection - will we have a wireless only future, or will it be like the relationship between electric mains and batteries?

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