It’s not a Tech Lash it’s something else
The term Tech Lash has been bandied about for well over a year by many a pundit. It’s been framed in the context of consumers abandoning social media, rejecting other technologies and regulators probing into the tech giants. There are some that argue too, that there is no tech lash because Facebook numbers continue to ground Google et al are making more money than ever. I don’t believe it’s a tech lash either, it’s something else.
As a design anthropologist I study and work with businesses at the intersection of technology and humans. I’ve talked to a lot of people over the years about how they adopt and use technology. My netnographic research has been extensive. I’m seeing something far different from a tech lash.
What we’re going through is what I call a Tech Orientation. Throughout history, as new, highly impactful technologies have been introduced to society, humans have always gone through an adjustment period. When radio broadcasting started to be a “thing” in the UK, radio announcers had to wear tuxedoes. When books started to be published en masse, the elites of the world thought reading was for poor people and academics and beneath them. When the telephone first came to offices in the 1900’s, there was one telephone in the main office room and one person was designated to answer it. All work would stop and everyone would listen to that person having a conversation.
When email took off, especially at work, it wasn’t really “work” that we shared it was jokes and those awful email chains that you had to forward to 30 people or your life would end as you knew it. When Slack hit the world as a productivity tool, it would end email. It didn’t. Things just got worse.
Today, technology is coming at us fast and furious. The tools we use to access information are always on and information is almost available to us anywhere we go. Everything is becoming connected, including our fridges, cars, crock-pots and ovens.
Humans can only absorb and process so much information and technology. Aeons ago, we had a bronze axe and maybe a few other implements. Today, we have more tools than ever and we keep adding to them.
Rather than a Tech Lash, humans are now working through figuring out what they need and don’t want. Kind of like spring cleaning. This isn’t bad. It’s good. Tech companies that focus more on a human-centric approach as they design and develop tools, have an opportunity to become adopted by the market. Those products that think adding more features and buttons will help, are the ones who will suffer. Some tools will command a niche market, some will simply disappear.
This isn’t to say that regulators won’t be inclined to continue anti-trust investigations. They will. As privacy and data concerns continue to be a public concern, these will be issues. But for consumers this is a time of adjustment more than a Tech Lash. This means opportunities for those tech companies that see it for what it is.
