The first two chapters of Slack & Wise Culture + Technology offers a couple interesting concepts about the progressive technological world but one concept really stuck with me. This concept is that limits are relatively non-existent. Limits are merely targets that get relocated once they are surpassed. The question I pose is are we truly limitless or is there ever going to be a point where we cannot progress a technological phenomena? Also, why is it that we seem to be more likely to innovate rather than go a new direction?
The reason I bring this question up is because I think of the concept of records, as brought up in the text. Records are meant to be broken and every time it seems to be shattered, the bar is set a little higher but inevitably falls. When conceptualizing the technological world and the constant advancements, I wonder why we seem to take one technology and further advance it until another concept comes along. Is the cycle of a technological product such as the smart phone going to last forever? Are we going to always use the "newest" cell phones? History has shown that we have been working in cycles with communication mediums but each has had their limit. We used morse code until it reached its limit. The limit was the newest technology. We strictly used land lines until the cell phones surfaced as the newest technology. The book refers to limits as constantly being broken and I can agree with that, but I cannot believe that there is no end to our "progress".
My rationale for this is based on the fact that we have taken the concept of communication and made it as "convenient" as possible. In more simple terms we have made communicating with each other effortless regardless of distance between. I find it hard to believe that we can make communication any more "advanced", considering we can real-time talk and watch each other from anywhere in the world. I believe smart phones can only be so smart. I believe Televisions can only be so clear. I believe that eventually the demand for a more advanced product will hit a wall. In this case it will have a limit.
Now I understand that I do not have any evidence but I believe the concept of advancement or progress in the technological world can have a limit and it is worth thinking about. I totally agree that limits are meant to be broken but I believe eventually the advancements will have less and less to offer. If you compare a smart phone to morse code then of course there is a huge benefit. But if you look at our smart phones, I believe the difference between that and the "newest technology" will not be a huge trade off. I think we will continue to innovate our technologies and progress will continue to be misconstrued for innovation.
Chris-- this is one of the same exact things I thought of when reading the piece. The idea of "innovation" is changing in front of our eyes. Are the iPhone's really that drastically different than each other? Aesthetically no and they do everything the same exact way. The only differences seen are seen by the tech nerd with differences under the hood but to the average user What has changed. Not much in my opinion. So seeing that innovation is slowing even though its seen as innovation is truly in interesting concept.
ReplyDeleteChris, it is good to hear that you are in the same boat as me because it is a concept with not a lot of evidence or information to back it up. To me, I thought that constant innovation will eventually hit that "limit" and specifically the iPhone/Smart Phone product. As we have already looked at the idea of how technology effects our everyday life, I wonder how many people have the iPhone 3 or iPhone 4 still? Or even just a regular old flip phone? I know for me, personally, I have the iPhone 4s and I feel like I really don't need it. Ironically, I still got the thing. But the more I look at the "technology" involved, the less I feel obligated to get an update or new phone. I think it will be that "limit" when I look to get a new mobile device.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both of you. New technology is always coming out and everyone wants the next best thing. For instance, my friends tell me they want to wait on getting a new iPhone in case the iPhone 6 comes out. But when will that be? There is always going to be a new iPhone coming out. Instead, I just decided to get what was available at the time which was the iPhone 5. I didn't see a point in waiting so long just to get the new iPhone that has a slightly better camera. Everyone has updated to the new iOs 7 a few months ago but I still haven't done it and I don't care to do it because I'm satisfied with the original.
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