Sick of computers
It's been 20+ years now that consumer computing really took off. And by computer, I don't mean PC, I mean calculators, televisions, cell phones and every other device that has a digital brain inside. 20 years and in my case, literally hundreds of gadgets later and I've come to the conclusion that I'm...sick...and...tired...of...computers.
I like what they do for me and I wouldn't go back. I appreciate the convenience and the portablity and the low cost. I like watching blockbuster movies and playing videogames and keeping in touch with my kids as I travel all over the world; I'm not a luddite. I just don't like thinking of these things as separate devices anymore. I don't want to configure things that I buy and be aware of battery life and having to reset the blinking red "12:00"s when the power goes out. I don't want to remember which charger cord goes with which device and tracking down esoteric gizmo parts in Europe has gotten old.
Why can't computers disappear into clothing or the walls or something? What would it take to have a seamless digital world?
For one thing it needs a commitment by vendors or maybe even one. One stylish, consumer-sensitive business, almost certainly European, could make a commitment to releasing digital products that were fashionable and had the guts as neatly tucked away as a split, broiled lobster in a nice American restaurant.
We are, as a consuming people, as primitive in our objectification of digital artifacts as the South Pacific Cargo Cult.
Computerized devices should be invisible. They should have style. They should work out of the box and for at least two years thereafter. The company that gets the model right will win and win big and with the decline in influence of Microsoft, you couldn't find a better time.
Posted on July 04, 2006
