Tools That Give More Than They Take
I have a new found respect and appreciation for analog tools. Tools that I own. They are not open sourced. They are not SAAS. I am the sole owner of these objects. There’s a limit of change that can affect the relationship I have with these objects. They can wear and tear through use, break through abuse, or can be lost through absentmindedness or theft.
The Gerber Evo Knife above is a great example. It’s affordable at $20-30. It’ll last 10 years if I don’t be an assshole to it. It’ll wear well, and I can sharpen it. I use it almost every single day. I cut boxes, I open packages, I have the potential to protect people from Zombies, and its my totem.
Compare this with Path. This last week Path updated several things, but I want to call it downdated. I love these guys. They are smart people, and I don’t disagree with their direction as a product – I just don’t like the product as much as I used to.
I bought Path – it’s not free, it costs time, energy, data, and evangelism to friends to join – because I loved the aspects of journaling and sharing with a set of core mediums like photos, comments, locations, and people I was with. I bought and used Path to share with a really tight group of friends, people I truly know and love. It still does all these things, but it’s adding elements to the design, to the core that are bulking up the product for the way I use it. The equivalent would be to wake up one day and find that my Gerber single blade knife had been “updated” into a Swiss-Army knife, which are great knives if you like that sort of thing, but I don’t.
What’s the outcome here? I’m growing more reticent to pay any network, or software, or app in loyalty and the dues of time and effort because I am so removed from the changes that can occur. These changes, compared to an analog tool are nearly limitless.
I think there is an opportunity to make applications that can flex for different uses, for different customers. Just as I now use this Twitter tweak so I can use the tool in a way that matches me. Ultimately this is still far too geeky. It’s the equivalent of modding up your car, something the vast majority of drivers will never do. Technology and software will begin to serve humans well when they give a great deal more than they demand.
