Sunday, March 14, 2010

What we use technology for

Let’s imagine we have a time machine.

The year is 1990 and we are in the technological age. In particular, we have the following in our house:
  • A computer, which we use for writing documents and keeping track of finances.
  • A Nintendo, which we use for playing video games (we may also use the computer for this)
  • A stereo system, which we use for listening to music. This will usually have a cassette and CD player, as well as a radio.
  • A television and VHS VCR, which we use for watching television and renting movies.
  • A telephone, for keeping in touch with people, communicating with friends or business contacts, or asking for a delivery of pizza
  • A camera for taking pictures
When we’re not at home and on the road, we have a Walkman (portable cassette player) for listening to music while walking around, and a cassette based car stereo for listening to music while driving.

Twenty years later, we’re still using technology for the same tasks
  • A computer, which we use for putting music on our MP3 telephone, burning CDs with music to play on our home theater or car, keeping in touch with people we would have lost touch with 20 years ago when we moved, communicating with friends or business contacts, and, oh occasionally writing documents and keeping track of finances.
  • An Xbox/Playstation/Nintendo for playing video games (or our computer)
  • A home theater system, which we use for watching movies, or sometimes for watching TV or listening to music. DVD/Blu ray players can play CDs, and we no longer use cassettes for custom mixes of music because we can now burn CDs.
  • A telephone, for asking for a delivery of pizza

On the road, we have more options:
  • A telephone, for listening to music when walking around, playing video games on the road, taking pictures, and, oh, for communicating with people wherever we are.
  • Our car either has a MP3 CD player, an input so we can hook up our phone to its speakers (via a plug or bluetooth), or we have some adapter to listen to music from our phone while on the road.
  • Our car often also has a device which lets us pop up a map and navigate our journey.
As you can see, we use technology for a lot of tasks. I will discuss how this affects operating system market share in a future blog entry.