Technology

Technology, Through A Straw

by Samuel J. Techner

I often wonder how some people end-up doing what they do for a living. I also, frequently think about how some products get to market. Believe it or not, these two seemingly unrelated ponderings actually raise a common issue.

They both beg us to ask a simple question.

A question so fundamental, in fact, that by itself it can mean the difference between shameless success and resounding failure.

Is the person or product “effective”?

I sat, the other day, after a nice lunch at a good restaurant...you know, linen table cloths, padded chairs, three forks, two knives, etc. Real quality. My tea arrived in the usual mini, stainless steel tea pot. I’ve learned to dread these cursed containers. Of course when I grasped the little handle to lift the lid, my fingerprints were seared completely off. But, even more frustrating was my attempt to pour the tea into my cup. Most of it ended up all over the formerly white table cloth! This seems to be the typical routine. I don’t think its just me (at least I hope not). Here is a perfect example of something completely failing at its intended purpose. In fact, teapots have only two purposes...to hold tea and get it into a cup. So I, and countless others struggle with something that should be so simple. We try to pour slowly (this serves only to slow down the rate at which it spills). We try to pour quickly (guess what).

The mini teapot is a great analogy for the "effectiveness of so many of the new consumer internet technologies. Take streaming video for example. In order to bring my television down to the level of good streaming video, I’d have to sit 30 feet away, look through the wrong end of my binoculars and have my daughter keep turning the set on and off at random. Lets face it, the internet in its present form, sucks at transmitting video. And, although it may be getting better, so are broadcasting technologies.

When technology is ineffectively applied, it becomes more of a curse than a blessing and to say that all content is just data and can therefore be delivered via the internet is like saying you can drink your milkshake and eat your steak through a straw.