A Digital Myth: Technology Doesn't Make Life Easier
It Simplifies Tasks but Complicates Lives
Nor could one ignore that this media deluge seemed well-coordinated with a very cool, very prominent iPhone TV campaign called "There's an app for that" that touts the amazing things one can do with an iPhone. The spot shows someone effortlessly whizzing through three or four screens of what seems like an endless array of apps to "make your life easier."
Again way cool -- or "sick," as my teenage son would say. All this technology lets us rise above the mundane and do things more easily. So this new iPhone is another innovation in a long line of "time saving" technologies that included going from rocks to washing machines or replacing POTS (plain old telephone service) with real-time video chat.
It's easy to see why this myth is very seductive even if it is, well, plainly wrong.
The truth is simply this: Technology makes tasks easier, but it does not make our lives easier. Whether we are talking about replacing rocks with washing machines or rotary telephones with mobile video-chat devices, technology, in fact, makes our lives more complicated.
Now before I hear all of you saying I am techno-phobic marketing type, let me note that I have over 15 years in the technology space alone, so I eat, live and breathe this stuff. But I also put it in perspective. Technology simply shifts where we invest our efforts -- and by looking at the example of the rock vs. the washing machine, you'll see what I mean.
While tedious, the amount of effort required to wash clothes via our reliable rock was predictable, the materials were readily available and the results, while not brilliant, were adequate. Rocks don't break, and rivers don't (usually) go away.
Now let's compare that to the washing machine. The actual task of washing is infinitely easier and the results better. But that's where the washing machine's advantage ends. To get it to work requires a huge aquatic infrastructure, and the physical machine can be pricey and dicey. Let's not forget the expense in time and money to maintain or repair the machine. Wait -- it doesn't end there. Now with our new, increased capacity to wash clothes, we need dryers to process all those wet clothes, which creates a whole other set of expensive, time-consuming tasks. I hope one enterprising young MBA out there takes me up on the challenge to calculate the total ROI of washing machine vs. rock. I bet I know what wins.
Which brings me back to the iPhone. As I watched the spot of all those apps going by, my initial thought was, "How the heck do you sort through all the apps to find the ones I want?" Then I thought, "I wonder how long or how many times I would actually use any of these apps?" Then I started to wonder, "Where will I store all those easily snapped videos since I won't want to upload all of them to YouTube?"
And this is the heart of the matter. The seduction of new technology belies the reality that technology is often neither a time saver nor even more efficient. Yet sometimes when I read the press covering a new gadget, it seems blinded by the brilliance of the technology to be objective. All I ask is that we play it straight with people: Technology is cool and helps simplify some aspects of our lives. But the myth that technology makes our lives easier deserves to die.
So while the iPhone can let me get a mailing label done easier, I may just pull out my pen. After all, my pen does not run out of juice too often.
~ ~ ~
Judy Shapiro is senior VP at Paltalk and has held senior marketing positions at Comodo, Computer Associates, Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Bell Labs. Her blog, Trench Wars, provides insights on how to create business value on the internet.
RSS Feed›› DigitalNext
Most Recent Posts 
- Sending Out an SOS to the World
- Helping Women 'Be That Woman'
- Realize the Flexibility Your Major Affords You
- Augmented Reality Is Overhyped and Abused
- Location Matters: How Ad Environments Affect Performance
- Recipe for Joy: Sending E-Cards to Help the Hungry
- Gatorade: We Axed Tiger Line Before Scandal Broke
- Beer Advertising 101: Don't Eat the Yellow Snow
- 'Tis the Season to Polish Your Book
- Google Bets (Again) on QR Codes
- Seven Advertising Insights for the New Year
- Leading the Effort on Climate Change
- Why Method Did Right in Pulling the Plug on 'Shiny Suds'
- In Mobile, Delivery Device Matters to the Message
- Maybe Go Daddy's Super Bowl Shenanigans Are Paying Off
White Paper: 2010 America
What the 2010 Census Means for Marketing and Advertising
2010 America explains what you need to know about the biggest consumer market-research project of the decade: the 2010 U.S. census. Demographics expert Peter Francese, author of this highly readable Ad Age white paper, analyzes what the census will reveal about the changing face of consumers.
Try It Now!
Ad Age Launches Mobile App for IPhone, IPod Touch
Includes In-feed Search, Easy-Tweet Feature
DataCenter
Top 100 Global Marketers: From No. 1 P&G Co. to No. 100 Abbott
The Global 100 ranked by worldwide media spending. Also, "The Dots:" Multinational agency networks and their global client assignments
3 Minute Ad Age
Kraft Foods as Growing Publishing Company
Ratchets Up Direct Competition Against Traditional Magazines
Bob Garfield
Why Method Did Right in Pulling the Plug on 'Shiny Suds'
A Lesson in How Advertising Is About the Entire Audience
Al Ries
If You Don't Think Names Matter, Yours May Be Forgotten
Marketers Obsess Over Everything Else but Overlook One Important Factor
Video: About Digital
Social Media Upends Ski Resort Marketing
Radically Accelerates Consumer Decision Cycle
Special Report
America's Hottest Brands
Advertising Age Honors the Top Brands of the Year -- and the Brains Behind Them
White Paper
The New Female Consumer: The Rise of the Real Mom
This Advertising Age and JWT white paper explores what multiple generations of American women want when it comes to family, work and life in the 21st century, decades after the women's liberation movement.
Martin Lindstrom Video Reports
Morphing a Jewelry Brand Into a Luxury Resort Chain
Interview with Bulgari Bali's General Manager
(What is RSS?)
Now everybody works 24/7.
Thanks technology!
While I do agree with you that technology impinges on our time as we allow it; it has less to do with technology and more to do with what we choose to do with it.
Langston Richardson
ECD, infuz
Twitter: @MATSNL65 @infuz
To make life easier, could AdAge please add a "share to Twitter" button somewhere?? That way I can quickly share this with others :)
Cheers from www.socialnerdia.com
I think the main issue of today's world is that the majority of us dont want to spend the time up front to make the tool do what it is intended to do - we want to open up the box and immediately start playing. (Thank Apple for maintaining that myth)
But that's not how these social tools/apps work. the manner in which these tools where designed is to help solve problem X. But it can only help if the person sets it up correctly for the intended purpose...there in lies the issue.
I dont think its a struggle of time or complicating a life, it's a complete lifestyle re-done that i would say 95% of the population just doesn't yet subscribe to....
Watch out for those "Sick" digital natives...
-robert
nostruminc.com
PS anybody realize that the 2 people who dont see completely eye-eye with the author on this post are from the left coast???
After my workout is done, I walk back to my apartment. During my walk, my music suddenly attenuates. It is my girlfriend calling me to ask if I can drop her off at the train. The simple squeeze of a tiny switch in-line with my headphones allows me to take the call. After she hangs up, my music fades back in and my walk continues.
After a quick shower I get dressed and my girlfriend and I head out. We slip into my sporty, affordable, and fuel efficient scion tC with navigation, iPod integration, and Bluetooth connectivity. I type in the name of the train station using an easy to use touch screen, the destination is found in seconds. Now for some music. Ah, the new Peter Bjorn & John would be great. I search through my 80 gig iPod (translate: thousands of songs at my fingertips) until I find the new album. We are now on our way, guided by a satellite, listening to high quality digital music and enjoying life made infinitely better by technology. I could go on forever, but looks like this comment forum is capped at 500 words.
One last thing:
As far as storing the videos you capture using your iPhone, I am pretty sure they will be loaded to your computer when you dock your iPhone and perform a "sync." They will be stored on your hard drive. If you are worried about running out of space, a gigabyte of hard drive storage space (which could most likely store _many_ hours of low res cell phone video) currently costs about 11 cents. As far as worrying about downloading an app and then not using it... why not just hit "delete" ? Technology is wonderful, and if you don't think it makes life easier, I don't think you are using it correctly. Maybe it is different for me, being fairly young, but I can't even begin to imagine how much more difficult life would be without it.
For more tech reviews/thoughts check out my blog: wwww.louisabate.com
Wondering through the halls of Apple's App Store has nothing to do with making like easier, it's about wading through a bunch of junk that isn't necessarily relevant. Again, maybe that's not great design and not great marketing (I happen to think it's pretty good). Oh but wait, that probably doesn't happen in a small town General Store (life must be easier in those conditions, right?).
Finally, you point to press reviews of technology as the arbiter of what's great. That's a huge generalization. Just because some reporter somewhere wrote about it doesn't make it true. Isn't that bad journalism vs bad technology? I wonder what Walt Mossberg would have to say about that.
I think I understand what you're trying to say here, the frustration you're facing. But, I think you're using a convenient punching bag and in the process have completely missed the point.
P.S. Your example about, "replacing POTS (plain old telephone service) with real-time video chat," shouldn't you note that you work or did work at PalTalk, a real-time video chat provider? Full disclosure?
First off -- I agree with you completely about the transparency thing and my previous posts included my background. This one omitted it -- my apologies. (Did you guess my Bell Labs provenance from the POTS acronym? :)
But onto the real issues you raised.
1) You contend that most of the challenges related to technology adoption are largely a function of bad design and /or bad marketing. I agree to a point. My real issue is that just because technology helps me do one task within a larger function better, that does not translate into that function being easier. It is certainly easier to pay bills online – but that does not make it easier if you become victim of fraud. That scenario is unrelated to either bad product design or marketing.
2) Onto your second point that the press has limited impact. On this point, I disagree. Influencers such as reporters and social media mavens do have a tremendous impact on what is adopted and by who. That can not be underestimated as the noted book Groundswell clearly outlines. Heck, a Walt Mossberg review can propel a tiny company from obscurity to buzz with a single article.
So while I love this stuff, I just wish all of us who are "influencers" in the ever expanding term called "the press" are cognizant of the full scope of how a technology impacts our lives. I'm advocating for a balanced perspective – not hyperbole.
Judy Shapiro
SVP, Paltalk
I sincerely appreciate your advocacy for a balanced perspective, not hyperbole. But again, that's not a technology issue, it's a marketing one.
Most would agree that Online Bill Pay makes life much easier. What I don't see is how being a victim of fraud is related to how technology makes life easier in that way? As an aside, that's possible even without technology isn't it? Say, someone robs you while you're on the way to the post office to drop off the check?
I didn't say that reporters don't have an impact on what's adopted or limited impact. My point is that you wrote: "Yet sometimes when I read the press covering a new gadget, it seems blinded by the brilliance of the technology to be objective," and I don't think that validates your thesis.
That idea has nothing to do with technology, it has everything to do with poor quality journalism. And yes, in the social web everyone is a publisher or influencer. Again, that has nothing to do with technology but has everything to do with people, their opinions and credibility. I suppose audiences will ultimately be the judge how influential they are.
Walt Mossberg has built his reputation on being a consumer advocate. He scrutinizes products based on how it might fit into a consumer's life. He's ripped products when he feels that they not ready and he's talked products up that he thinks are worthy. That's really different from some blogger who thinks he or she can write and can figure out how to use WordPress. It has everything to do with credibility, again, not technology.
It seems that the spirit of your post is that you don't think technology is the be all and end all and you want marketers to rethink how they communicate the benefits of the products they sell. Fact is, the only people that think technology is all that are people that market and sell it. Not 'civilians.'
If that's your point, then I love everything you're saying.
I love it when healthy debate refines an idea.
You are 100% right – I am advocating for balanced communications when we talk to "civilians" about what technology could/ should/ may do. Today it's been my observation that in speaking of new tech, many marketers/ media folks suspend reality in favor of the glitz.
So I do love what you/ we are saying :) Thanks for helping me shape this idea. I am grateful.
Judy Shapiro