Could Do vs. Should Do
The 1990s are now behind us and our entire future lies ahead. Let’s not repeat the same mistakes we have already made using technology. For example, take a look at this short list and see if you can relate to any of the signs.
12 Signs You’ve Had Too Much Technology
1. You “hear” most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with a real deck of cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You call your son’s beeper to let him know it’s time to eat. He e-mails you back from his bedroom, “What’s for dinner?”
5. Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her Web site.
6. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven’t spoken with your next door neighbor yet this year.
7. Your daughter just bought a CD of all the records your college roommate use to play.
8. Your grandmother clogs up your e-mail inbox, asking you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver.
9. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.
10. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is that they do not have e-mail addresses.
11. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow.
12. You just tried to enter your password on your microwave.
Technology can save you time or take your time. It can tear apart relationships or it can be used to strengthen them. Technology can be used to create a very warm, high-touch human world or a very low-touch, cold, cruel and inhuman world. Don’t blame the technology! It’s what we have decided to do with technology that is important. Technology could be used to do many things. The key question to ask is what should we do with it? What needs to be invented?
For example, it’s already possible, using genetic engineering techniques, to create larger animals such as cows, chickens and hogs. We could use technology to create giant policemen, but should we? What if they don’t like us?
We could make all of our customers communicate with us only via voice mail or e-mail, but should be? We could eliminate all classroom instruction and replace instructors with automated, self-diagnostic, multimedia, Web-enhanced instructional materials, but should we? We could take our wireless PDA, pager and cell phone to the beach with our spouse and kids, but should we?
As we enter this new era of innovation, where we are literally reinventing how we do almost everything, let’s invent what should be instead of what could be. Let’s look at current, and more importantly, future needs and ask what really needs to be invented. And, most importantly, let’s not allow technology to control our lives, because it could, if we let it.
Daniel Burrus, one of the world's leading technology forecasters, business strategists, and author of six books
Copyright 2003 Author retains copyright. All Rights Reserved.
