Is Technology Outpacing Usefulness?

from the second-hand-second-rate-technology dept

Microsoft's top researcher Richard F. Rashid speculates that "technology in some ways is outpacing people's ability to use it meaningfully." Citing the accelerating creation of digital detritus that our increasingly tech-centric lives create, Rashid claims that the data created is well ahead of any meaningful use for it. Is this really a problem? Don't the uses for technology usually follow its availability? True, there will always be futurists that try and predict what will be, but practical applications of technologies usually lag technical feasibility.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Jared, 28 Apr 2005 @ 8:38am

    No Subject Given

    Very true. Lots of features, not alot of education.

    People still wonder why we have virus and spyware infections. It's because people still don't know how to (successfully) use their computer. There's still entire generations out there that aren't part of the digital age, but they need a new PC every 6 months because it keeps crashing because they don't know how to use it.

    My theory - the first company (MS listen up) that actually sits down with the user and explains to them why exactly it's important to update software and security patches will dominate the market.

    Either that, or wait until those people kick off and then run head-first into the market hoping to gather more of a market share with shiny objects.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Tim, 28 Apr 2005 @ 9:14am

    No Subject Given

    I think maybe he means that people aren't getting enough time to explore all a product's functionality to full extent before marketing forces something else on them.

    This is definitely not a good thing, as it means feedback to inventors is constrained with "but I haven't had time to explore it yet", ie is pretty worthless.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.