We talk about technology a lot. I write about technology a lot. It permeates our world and is beginning to affect even the most 'Digitally Divided' places on this Big Blue Marble. But how many of us truly understand what makes a successful technology? It seems that someone figured out what makes a technology 'good'. Or perhaps, successful. But I think they missed one.
Nine Rules for Good Technology by Robin Good (courtesy eLearnSpace) is a simple read, and will probably cause quite a few people to simply nod. We take some of these things for granted - and some things we have a tendency to ignore within context (such as the bus example given).
But do these nine simple rules define 'good technology'? I suppose it depends on what we consider 'good' to be; so I shall make it a list of 10 items.
The tenth item, and perhaps the most important, is that a good technology should increase the quality of our lives. This doesn't mean only creating a technology; this means managing it.
Mankind has done abhorrent things with technology - indeed, some of our greatest breakthroughs have been made during times when our humanity seems to have gone on vacation. And yet, we turn around and try to apply the technologies to make the world a better place.
How do we manage technology? Should we charge Scientists and Engineers with the responsibilities of good technology? Perhaps. But we need to look to our society as well; we need to become aware of how technologies impact our lives. From software to file sharing to nuclear energy to nanotechnology to the human genome.
One of Richard Feynman's anecdotes involved a Buddhist temple in Hawaii, where a priest told him that a man is given a key in life. This key opens both the Gate to Heaven and the Gate to Hell.
This is preaching to the choir; anyone visiting this site knows this. That's what WorldChanging is about - it's about making the world a better place. Yet even as we do this, we need to let others know that they are not just along for the ride, they are participants. Together, human society can make the world a better place through technology and other means.
We just need to be aware, thoughtful, and active.
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