Future Focused.
PART 02 — The Technology Narrative
A few weeks ago I was invited to give a talk as part of TEDxYouth at The Nueva School, located just outside of San Francisco, CA. The theme of the event focused on “Connections.” The following piece is an adaptation of my talk, and the second installment in a 3-part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part 01 before scrolling down.
The first part of Future Focused concluded with a promise to delve deeper into the shift in the Technology narrative that we all need to be paying closer attention to…
So let’s talk about technology.
It’s kind of a big deal. Over time we have come up with a plethora of ways to think about it and define it. In 1937, the American sociologist Read Bain wrote that “technology includes all tools, machines, utensils, weapons, instruments, housing, clothing, communicating and transporting devices and the skills by which we produce and use them.” In our present-day context, I extend that to include: the methods and processes used to solve a problem, fulfill a need, or satisfy a want.
The development and use of the wheel in the late Neolithic era marked a major technological breakthrough. It quite literally reduced the friction in people’s lives. It has allowed us to travel farther and to bring people closer to one another. It has made our lives a little easier and a little more efficient. And while the technology itself is definitely an important bit, I would argue that our understanding of these technological advancements, our understanding of how we should use something or interact with it, or what value it brings into our world…that becomes just as important. Otherwise the wheel is really just an inanimate object, a circular disk; the value is ultimately lost on me.
Over time we have learned how to behave around and in relation to these new technologies because of the stories that were crafted; from cave paintings to narratives that were passed on orally from generation to generation. We use these to understand our place in history, our relationship to the stars and planets and oceans…And if we take a moment to think about it, we’ve actually always been captivated by alternate realities — by stories overlaying the future and carving out the past, by tales of the incredible and even the believable. Our histories, creeds, and technologies are deeply embedded in fantasy, in fable, and in first-person accounts. At the core of this, however, we were always referencing Progress’ lead protagonist. People.
From the Stone Age and into the Space Age.
There are a staggering amount of literary greats out there…With that said however, I want to take this opportunity to talk about a group of the more unlikely story-tellers. Especially from the 1950's onward, the men and women who created narratives so compelling that they could cause your behavior to change. I’m talking about Advertising.
Advertising campaigns from these eras provide such a great way of understanding how people lived, what they hoped for, what they feared, and where they thought they were headed…Like this. CompuServe was one of the first online services to offer Internet connectivity, to offer a limited version of email, and even some of the first real-time chat capabilities, back in the 1980’s. And as absurd as this ad is, we can kind of imagine the pristine and efficient life these people led. This Frigidaire print ad from 1927 is clearly selling a fridge. However the target here is the husband and housewife. The story is really about her. “Of course she’s a regular fellow and will like whatever you give her,” it reads “But here’s the chance to do something handsome and provide a real Christmas thrill!…Think of it! A gift that lasts for many years to come. A gift that she’ll use every day in the year. A gift that’s a constant reminder of what a good fellow you are.”
This 1972 advertisement is for the Olivetti typewriter. The narrative however, speaks to the girl who aspires to be the badass secretary and the heroine of her office.
And finally, one of my favorites is the video put out by Apple in advance of their Apple Macintosh personal computer launch. It was directed by Ridley Scott. The video opens in a vision of a dystopian future. It’s dark, and blue, and a veil of smoke seems to surround everything and everyone. It looks cold and sterile. There’s an incessant humming in the background. Everyone is in identical monochromatic uniforms, mindlessly marching into an auditorium in an orderly fashion. Their leader’s face is seen projected on a huge screen at the front of the auditorium. As this Big Brother character yells out his manifesto, in the distance we see this young woman, short blond hair, white tank, red shorts, tennis shoes, carrying a sledgehammer. She’s running towards the big screen, running, running, running and then BOOM, she heaves the sledge hammer, shattering the projector screen, setting off an explosion, and releasing everyone from their foggy stupor. And then the line reads “On January 24th, Apple Computer will release the Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984.”’
This was a depiction of a possible, albeit dystopian future. It was one of Apple’s predictions that in the future the control of technology would be taken over by the few. More importantly however, this was about how technology was going to change the world for people. You didn’t even need to see the thing, the object that was being sold, the computer. (It wasn’t even completely ready for sale at this point). All that mattered was who it was for. For you and I and everyone as long as we were ready for it.
Through the examples above, we begin to understand the motivation and importance of people. Even more so that the stories were spun for people, and by people.
Flash forward to Present-day…
And this is where some believe that we are:
“Across generations, technology is implicated on [the] assault on empathy.”
Sherry Turkle wrote this in a piece for The New York Times last year, titled “Stop Googling: Let’s Talk.” Technology is implicated on the assault on empathy...Now take a look at today’s advertisements for smartphones. Is there anything different to the images from earlier decades? This is for no one, but the implication is that it’s for everyone. The selling point, however, no longer shows you how it’s going to fit into your life. It shows you the rounded edge display, or the sleek and sexy form. The manner in which we are crafting stories about the technology around us is changing. And that makes sense. It is to be expected in a way.
It’s to be expected because the way in which we receive our information and make sense of it has also changed dramatically. You’ve all heard about how Data has been liberated by the Internet, by now. When it comes to storytelling, we no longer need a narrator necessarily and the author has even lost control, because technology has allowed many users the authority over how they navigate the narrative. They are no longer required to submit to the official story in order to get the information they want. Because we have become free to absorb content out of context, we’ve perhaps forgotten at times that context matters.
We have become accustomed to experiences and narratives that have been curated for the individual, sometimes in real time. We design for ourselves because finally the technology says that we can! It’s exciting, and it’s enticing, the shiny and beautiful schemes. The pristine objects, those magical devices that connect us to everything and everyone all the time. But what this is also doing…is creating a disconnect and leaving some people behind.
The story has shifted from asking “Who is the technology for?” to “What can the technology do?”
If you’re curious continue on to Part 03, focusing on how to shift our Narrative around Technology in the future. In the meantime I would love to hear your thoughts. And if you haven’t already, take a moment to read Part 01. Again, thank you to The Nueva School and to Clemantine Wamariya, Karen Mok, and Jamie Black for helping to bring some level of coherence to the chaos that is my mind.
