Here'smysimpletestforaproductoftoday'stechnology:Igotothebookstoreandchecktheshelvesforremedialbooks.
Themorebooksthereare,themoremysuspicionsareraised.
Ifcomputersandcomputerprogramsaregettingeasiertouse,whyaresomanycompaniesstillmakinganicelivingpublishingbooksonhowtousethem?
Computersmanipulateinformation,butinformationisinvisible.
There'snothingtoseeortouch.
Theprogrammerdecideswhatyouseeonthescreen.
Computersdon'thaveknobslikeoldradios.
Theydon'thavebuttons,notrealbuttons.
Instead,moreandmoreprogramsdisplaypicturesofbuttons,movingevenfurtherintoabstractionandarbitrariness.
Ilikecomputers,butIhopetheywilldisappear,thattheywillseemasstrangertoourdescendantsasthetechnologiesofourgrandparentsappeartous.
Today'scomputersareindeedgettingeasiertous,butlookwheretheystarted:sodifficultthatalmostanyimprovementwaswelcome.
Computershavethepowertoallowpeoplewithinacompany,acrossanationorevenaroundtheworldtoworktogether.
Butthispowerwillbewastediftomorrow'scomputersaren'tdesignedaroundtheneedsandcapabilitiesofthehumanbeingswhomustusethem—apeople-centeredphilosophy,inotherwords.
Thismeansretoolingcomputerstocopewithhumanstrengths,observing,communicatingandinnovatinginsteadofaskingpeopletoconformtotheunnaturalbehaviorcomputersdemand.
Manyoftoday'smachinestrytodotoomuch.
Whenacomplicatedworkprocessorattemptstodoubleasadesktoppulsingprogramorakitchenappliancecomewithhalfadozenattachments,theproductisboundtobeawkwardandburdensome.
Myfavoriteexampleofatechnologicalproductonjusttherightscaleisanelectronicdictionary.
Itcanbemadesmaller,lighterandfareasiertousethanaprintversion,notonlygivingmeaningsbutevenpronouncingthewords.
Today'selectronicdictionaries,withtheirtinykeysandbarelylegibledisplays,areprimitivebuttheyareontherighttrack.