Monday 23 September 2013

Institutional Bewilderment and the three types of technology

On Saturday 21 September Radio 4 featured 'Bremner's One Question Quiz - What Does the Future Hold?' On that show, Mark Stevenson, possibilist, futurologist and author of 'An Optimists Tour of the Future' made some interesting observations. Of those, one segment stood out. Mark Stevenson made reference to Douglas Adams, a man who said that there were three types of technology. It's very interesting and here's how Mark condensed it:
1. Technology invented before you were born which you don't think of in technology. Like sewers and paper. 
2. Technology invented between the ages of 0 and 35 which you get super excited about. For many, this is the Internet, mobile phones, etc. 
3. Then there's the technology developed after you're 35 which you see as pointless and which makes you angry. 

Mark Stevenson gave his thoughts on the third category: "For my generation that's things like 3D tv and Twitter; I've got friends who are literally furious that Twitter even exists." Mark further said: "The people who determine the strategic direction of a nation or an organisation are usually in the last category. Yet most of the population are in the second category and so you get institutional bewilderment."

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