An informal poll of my acquaintances reveals that the first thing they think of when they hear “technology” is some kind of electronic device: a computer, a smart phone, an e-cigarette. But technology doesn’t just mean things which beep and blink and make people over 40 feel clueless and inept: it’s any applied science. So what about the car, then? More science and research goes into the development of a new car than nearly most other consumer goods (compare with a kitchen appliance, for example). Few pieces of technology have as many deeply entrenched, loyal users. In some parts of the world, there are more cars than there are people. So why don’t people immediately think of cars as technology?
The answer is simple: most people can’t remember a time before cars. I can remember when I didn’t have a smart phone (not that long ago). I can recall life without a computer (farther back, but still not that long). Both my parents can drum up memories of life without calculators, and my father can remember a time before television. But almost nobody can even imagine, let alone remember, life without an automobile. There was a time before cars, though. There was a time before the horse-and-carriage. There was a time before every man-made object you can think of (and all the ones you can’t).
There was a time before chairs.
To most of you, the chair is probably not a very impressive piece of applied science. Some of you are, even now, trying to imagine just how it is that “applied science” relates to the word “chair”. But if you have spent your entire life with your butt on the ground, the chair is an amazing technological breakthrough. However, it is also an excellent example of the fundamental flaw in the human approach to technology.
Technology is really only capable of two things: it can speed up old tasks, or it can enable you to perform tasks that used to be impossible. It used to take hours to wash your clothes by hand, now you can use a washing machine. In 1900 it was impossible to leave this planet, and by 2000 nearly 400 people had been to space. But finishing chores faster (or worse, creating new chores) is not what people want from technology. What people want is to turn bad ideas into good ideas.
The average chair is mostly right angles. The average human is not. We are pudgy and squishy and curvy. Sitting in most chairs is not very comfortable, and even most comfortable chairs become uncomfortable if you sit in them for long enough. Throughout its more than 4000 year history, various approaches have been tried to correct this problem: seat cushions, back cushions, arm rests. None of them address the real issue, though, which is simply that trying to make people sit at right angles is a bad idea. And there is nothing you can add to a chair that will make sitting at right angles a good idea. The only thing you can do to make a chair well and truly comfortable is to build chairs to fit people, and not try and force people to fit the chair you build.
Build technology that fits your good ideas. Don’t try and fit your bad ideas into technology.