Cum grano salis
In this seventh article and last article of this series (beside the bibliography), a reality check.
You can share ideas, dreams, or “what ifs”, but, in the end, experience is built by the interaction with reality- not by thinking about an alternative reality.
In this article I would like to share some practical experience on how to temper the fury of over-excited zealots of innovation-through-patterns.
In this sixth article: an old slogan of democracy is “no taxation without representation”- in various forms, at least since the late XVIII century; but this principle is not as widely followed as most people would expect.
In this fifth article, a look at an industry that in few decades has changed how we see the world.
Eventually, we shifted from transportation as an individual choice to transportation as a shared flow, where your individual car is part of a larger system, composed by the infrastructure that you use with your car, all the other transportation means, and, of course, all the accessory services.
In this fourth article, patterns within the consumer electronic industry, used as a case study on applying patterns across industries; therefore, it is assumed that you read the previous articles.
Why consumer electronics? Because it seems to take increasing space on our newspapers- as if choosing a mobile phone or netbook were to be a critical issue for our well-being; therefore, a case using to see how patterns delivered through technology are influencing our everyday life.
Since at least late 1980s, replacing is cheaper than repairing: ask to repair your digital camera or the screen of your netbook, and you will be asked amounts often exceeding the replacement cost- with a newer and better model.
And what happens to the old one? It is dumped somewhere- often in developing countries, while all those “recycling” symbol on boxes that make us feel eco-friendly forget to say where and how it will be recycled.
Over the years, the legal framework protecting consumers evolved, potentially giving to any consumer the same rights- but, of course, I, as an individual, cannot (usually) afford to pay lobbyists and other “consensus shapers”; and the “greening” of the economy is almost becoming yet another marketing opportunity.
I will not repeat what I already presented in Consumer 3.0, on how we gradually shifted from a passive consumer, receiving what was on the menu (1.0), to one choosing from a limited set of options (2.0), to influencing what is actually available in the kitchen.
Defining information technology today
In the second article in the series, I will discuss change in the field that touches the life of everyone of us: Information technology (computer and Internet- but also other active and passive telecommunication media).
When I say “everybody” I am not forgetting the Low Income Countries (LICs), or the non- connected (over 30% in the EU): in one way or another, e.g. also via radio or TV, everybody is touched by information technology.
And, since over the last 20 years gradually each information channel migrated to the digital platform, it is quite easy to see how, eventually, it will be the form and shape at the receiving end (TV, radio, text messages, voice, etc) that will be seen as differentiating the different channels.
The evolution on the transmission of information has been also mirrored by a parallel evolution in its storage: where you information resides started being irrelevant.
This is the first short article of a 7-article series on change, that I will post along the month of September.
The purpose is quite simple: share, through case studies and examples, an approach that I used in my prior activities joining technology and change, and focusing on the change itself.