Whats the next Telegraph?
The Telegraph changed the way we communicate by introducing the capability of sending instant messages across the country at will. This was one of the most significant inventions of the 21 century. But what next?
I think that we have already seen it... It’s the iPhone, The reason that the iPhone was so revolutionary was its ability to enable. In 2005 the phone called and texted people and if you had a super smartphone you could kind of look something up on the poorly designed blackberry mobile web app. Now my iPhone is my TV remote, house key, my car's GPS, my wallet, thermostat, light switch, media player, and fitness tracker. The truth is I could go on forever on the amount of stuff the iPhone does.
This still though does not answer the question as to what is next. To be honest, the telegraph answered a very specific problem in communication, and so did the iPhone. The thing the iPhone also did was bring technology into all industries. If we look back to the 80s advanced computing technologies were largely reserved for military weapons there was no “real“ personal computer. It wasn’t till the nineties when Microsoft released Windows 95 that the personal computer was born. I‘m intentionally not trying to be specific about dates here, so I can paint a picture with the broadest of brushes
It use to be that technology was limited in its growth based on how users use it. Now with smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches where we quite literally handcuff ourselves to the tech. I am curious if the division of power has swapped. Meaning that technology tells us what we should be doing with it.
For instance when your apple watch tells you to breathe. Did you ask apple to do that? Or have we reached a point where the “usefulness” of technology has reached a ceiling and we are now hitting manipulation?
I don’t want to be all doom and gloom here, there are benefits as well. I am an apply guy, I have the iPhone 12, iPad Pro, Apple Watch, and the 15-inch MacBook Pro. I am a cloud engineer who makes a living by developing software for the cloud. If anyone is dependent on technology it’s me.
Again, I haven’t answered the question what’s next? I think I'm trying to get to the point that what’s next should control the dependency we have on technology. Is it possible to use technology to monitor the use of technology? The truth is if you want to be dependent on technology you can be... Simply don't monitor your usage. It's progressively getting harder to break free from that dependence. Apple and others saw this and took action, macOS Monterey have do not disturb build into the operating system. The thing it doesn’t do is prevent the user from using it... No feature exists that says I am turning off for the next hour and you have no control. guaranteeing that you can be locked in whenever you choose to put on those handcuffs.