Tools for Thought

I like change. More specifically, I like positive change. Sometimes that involves adopting new technology, sometimes it involves renunciation. Ubiquity was one I adopted, the iPhone is one I’ve renounced. In reply to  my last post, 10 Technologies I Resist, reader steenbok68 was skeptical of my skepticism.

Honestly I do not see the point in “resisting” new technologies. CHANGE is all around you and unless you accept it you will be left behind. Not that I am already on top of all the technologies you mention, but if I came across them I would not resist. Some of them can only may life easier and/or more enjoyable.

In this flow of thought, new technologies equal change, and change equals an easier and/or a more enjoyable life. That might be the case for some of them, even ones on the list that I do resist. Part of my motivation for writing the post was to reflect on which basis I resisted each of them: moral, rational, intuitive, emotional or sentimental.

For instance, I resist television primarily on an emotional basis. A running TV irritates me like cigarette smoke — it’s cognitive pollution. I could say that people mainly use TV as a time filler, that it diverts people from “real” issues, that most of the content on TV is unbearably stupid; but none of those reasons are why I resist it.

On the other hand, I feel like I’m there’s something about social networking that I’m missing. Back in the early nineties, when I started telling people about email, the reaction I got from most of them was, “Why not just call?” When people ask me to get on Friendfeed, I have a similar reaction: “Why not just email?” I suspect that it’s just a matter of finding the unique use cases where social networks have an inherent advantage over email.

Two attitudes

Some people will argue that other people are fundamentally optimistic or pessimistic about technology. I think that’s a false axis. In reality there are two fundamental attitudes you can take toward adopting new technology:

• Problem solving
• Exploration

In problem solving mode, you’re not interested in a technology for its own sake. You have something you’re currently trying to accomplish, and when a new solution comes along, it’s only valuable to the extent that it helps you reach your goal. The first Apple computer was a hobbyist machine until VisiCalc made it a radically useful problem solving tool for accountants and analysts.

In exploration mode, you’re specifically interested in a technology for its own sake. You have a solution in search of a problem. You spend your time tinkering with the new resource at your disposal, and occasionally something very valuable springs from that leisure activity.

Let’s look at one of the technologies I resist from both perspectives. Of all the problems and projects on my radar, social networking doesn’t appear to fill a void. When I need to contact people online, I email them. Facebook adds another point of contact, but doesn’t seem to expedite matters at all, unless the other person has a heavy emotional preference communicating through Facebook. Otherwise, from a problem solving perspective, it’s counterproductive.

Suppose, instead, that I’m willing to spend some leisure time exploring some of Facebook’s features, particularly the fact that, unlike email, it’s an inherently “one-to-many” medium. I can add a “Welcome” video, introducing myself for anyone who “friends” me. I can see which of my long lost friends are on Facebook. I can look at my friend’s profiles for things I didn’t know about them to talk about. I can look at their friend’s profiles for new people to friend.

One way to waste a lot of time with any new technology is by being unclear about which attitude you’re adopting in the moment. People will adopt products that might be inherently innovative, but aren’t relevant to a specific problem they have. The best time to explore the advantages of a new tool is when you don’t have to use it. That might mean acknowledging that what you have is a toy, and playing with it until you can use it functionally as a tool.

If you suspect that you’re spending more time reengineering your production system than using it — downloading new software, buying new gadgets — you may not be giving yourself enough play time with the technology that interests you. If you find youself not using a tool that you “should” be using, you may need to just give up on it and get back to work, or block out some exploration time for the tool apart from your work.

(Photo credit: Eryann)

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