Limits to Unlimited Expections
I have a confession.
That Apple and like-minded companies have positions like “Chief Internet Evangelist” bothers me. Don’t get me wrong. I know which the way the wind blows, and I’m looking forward to our increasingly wired future. I’ll be able to read books anywhere, collaborate at the speed of business, and more. I just don’t know if it’ll be all it’s hyped up to be.
Why do companies like Apple and Yahoo need to spread their gospel? Why do people need to get excited about the newest release of Firefox? How come this is necessary? Especially if, indeed, it’s as inevitable as everyone seems to believe it is.
Google Books. It’s going to offer an unheard amount of reading material for free, and once they get the kinks worked out it’ll deliver information quickly and efficiently. But it runs the risk of establishing a virtual monopoly. There is – for the foreseeable future at least – going to be no competitor to Google Books. Yes, it will provide a public good, but the remaining “good,” that of the soon to be marginalized industries, will be sucked into a single, exclusive organization for their benefit. Google is very exclusive.
It’s just a drop in the bucket.
This Utopian “look at how technology will make our future better” attitude is short-sighted. Yes, the technological breakthroughs of the past 20 years are incredible. I commend the visionary spirit of those bringing them to the masses too. But, I’m not going to believe for a second that their vision is any different than that of a politician, a preacher, or anyone else.
Spread the gospel all you want but if you can’t solve problems… nobody will listen. The bottom line is this. Technologists may be good at working with technology, but if their solutions don’t turn out to be as useful as promised then people will get mad. Or disillusioned.
If you preach the gospel you better back it up. I fully expect that, given the law of unintended consequences, not everyone in the computer industry will be able to. Sorry, but there are realistic limits that pertain to unlimited expectations. As society adapts more and more new technology there are likely going to be more and more unexpected consequences.
There is nothing new under the sun.
