TechNotes #1 - Introduction
Written by Matthew Stein Thursday, 10 December 2009 13:43
So here we are, blog number one. The best place to start, I expect, is with a little introduction to what this is all going to be about.
Technology moves fast. There are a whole lot of people out there in the world working on some amazing new ideas, trying to find ways to make the latest scientific advancements into something useful you can fit into your pocket. But just because someone can make it doesn't mean people can use it. It's a lot easier to keep up with the latest developments in wireless communication when you spend 8 hours a day in a lab studying wireless communication. What about everyone else?
One of the biggest failings of technology today—if not the biggest—is its inaccessibility to the average consumer. While constantly upgrading to the latest and greatest new toy may suit some, most people want something that works, and works consistently. Individuals and businesses sometimes go for years without upgrading or even doing maintenance updates for fear that the new system will make it harder to get things done. On its own, the time it takes to learn a new system can be prohibitive, not to mention the cost of the upgrade itself, so very often people choose to go without rather than benefit from new technology. The thinking is, if what I'm using now works, why change it? Yet the benefits lost by staying with old technology can sometimes be great themselves: older systems are often less secure and less stable; with newer technology often comes new features which could prove very useful; and the longer an old system goes without an update, the greater the eventual cost to do the update (particularly with regard to learning the new way of doing things).
Too often the issue at the core of these problems is knowledge. Not everyone is an IT person or can afford an IT department, but many new technologies are delivered as though only the computer nerds are going to be using them. You're left with the choices of using your time to become an expert, paying someone else to do it, or not getting to use the next new thing. But the problem here is not that some people are techies and others are not; the problem is that too often the techies can't find a way to make the technology accessible to the other 98% of the world who don't have degrees in computer science and engineering. That's what this blog is about.
Everyone should be able to benefit from the latest advances, not just the few people who can decrypt the 900 page manual. My aim here is to deliver information about technology that doesn't baffle the casual consumer, and helps to create a broader and deeper understanding of the tech in our lives without using a lot of technical jargon. If there are details I think are worth posting but may be too confusing, they'll be set aside in a special "Nerd Stuff" box, and if that extra information isn't for you, you'll still be able to read the rest of the article and understand what's going on.
So tune in next time for some info about the recently released Windows 7!
Do you have a tech question you'd like answered? Click on the "Contact Me" link and let me know!
