Wake me up before you go-go
I'm bored with technology.
Tech has become the flying monkeys of marketing. The novelty and creativity behind yesteryear's tech has taken a backseat to use of clever ways to sell a new gadget, rather than the thingie itself.
Remember when Windows releases had the snap of a Beatle's reunion? Compare that to the annual running of the video geeks outside America's toystores, hoping to get this year's hot and trendy digital wampum. The Microsoft mooks were interested in getting the technology because they thought that it was cool (it wasn't;) the gamers are trying to buy something scarce. In the latter case, they line up because if they don't, they won't be early adopters.
Every year or two, I see some gadget that is different that I like. The first Palm Pilot, the NeXT machine, the WII console. But they're few and far between compared to the layers and layers of dreck that clog up our stores and pea-sized consumer minds every holiday season. Go look at MP3 players...are they really that different from a couple of years ago? How about stereos? Is a flatscreen TV significant because it's diagonal size has increased 3 or 4 inches?
I believe that there's a fundamental conservatism prevalent in America's technology companies. That even though they look innovative, hip and out-of-the-box, they are anything but. Silicon Valley has become this decade's Detroit; electronic gadgetry is the boxy American Patriotmobile that was displaced by genuinely innovative Japanese cars.
Posted on December 19, 2006
