On the Next Big Thing in Disruptive Technology aka Fighting the Curse of Babel
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“The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.” -Abraham Lincoln
We’ve decided to try a different tac, and to do one of these things i am rather good at, link things which seem unlinkable at first glance, and I have chosen the Curse of Babel, and Disruptive Technologies.
Ahh, the Curse of Babel. First, for those who don’t know, it is the curse placed upon man by God, to speak forever different languages and to be divided. It was placed on man after they thought themselves above God, and took to building a tower to heaven. People of one race, speaking one language, suddenly couldn’t understand each other and no longer working as one.”
The curse of babel was disruptive, but man was far from finished. The very curiosity (and arrogance) which led to the creation of the tower of babel drives us today to overcome it. First language was newly invented, then it was stored (written down) and then, translated. But what does this have to do with Disruptive technology?
Revolutionary technology is disruptive technology. What is interesting is that almost all disruptive technology has been.. Communicative. The First disruptive technology was a book (or means to communicate by writing). But even the smartest of people have said “eh”.
When the telegraph was invented, someone went “What will we use it for?” When the telephone was invented, it was stated that no one would want to use one. When the computer was invented, it took two people in a garage raiding labs of big companies to bring about yes, a communication device. The World Wide web? Communication, and so the trend continues. From blackberries to Face book, from Onstar to Tom-tom gps devices, it is almost guaranteed that if you want a idea to explode and be disruptive, it needs to not only communicate, but it needs to show a group of people (groups are better for viral) How to communicate using it, in a way no one has yet thought off.
Talk to any kid on X-box live and the best/worst part is hearing that ass gloating over his kills, then laughing at him as he gets fragged, IN REAL TIME. One of the funniest thing that has come out are two packages, One is Jot, a little program for the blackberry. Know what it does? No, it does something simple. It enables you to type an email using your voice. Not revolutionary, but dictation is something that is just waiting in the wings. It’s just the darn comma’s and periods that get in the way. Still there are “Make the world smaller technologies, which are an offshoot of communication. I call these second level, because they are tangible, unlike the intangible examples i defined before. Cars, Planes, Bullet Trains. These make the world seem smaller. You can go across 4-5 European countries in 1/2 a day on their high speed trains. Most people don’t think it’s anything to drive from Florida to DC, or Alabama to Michigan (USA). (yes, I know the GPS belongs in this area better), The Highway is third Tier. It is an enabler, a technology complement, of the first 2, and are generally available to all. Satellite and Undersea cables improve telephones, but are themselves not very useful without the Disruptive technology (Intangible, then Tangible, preview of the first adopters and the rich usually.)
It should be noted that all of these disruptive technologies are a) abuse-able, b) spread things we’d rather keep private, c) rife with malicious intent, d) have a dedicated group of people wishing to keep it free. The Next big thing is Not Business intelligence or CRM software. Those are interesting, but only allow us to use the technology we have. The Iphone is revolutionary, and the moment it was produced it was copied and upgraded. Disruptive? not per say, to locked, monopolistic industries, but it did do something … it made us communicate better, again! Now anywhere I go i get google and yahoo maps. Now, I can get the voice mail i want and avoid the ones’ i don’t, i can indeed shut out the world and listen to my music.
Two more technologies are taking off. One is in the prototype stages but has been demoed. It allows someone to talk, just by thinking. It’s supposed to be used for cellphones. If you think for a moment that the military isn’t going to use it, you need a new head.
But it get’s better. Emotiv Systems has a helmet that allows you to control video games with just your mind. (that’s a google search, you can do yourself. ) What is a fact is that their are modders out there. Technologies will be combined, and controlling your computer by thinking about it is just a step behind, what about your phone, or even a plane? What if i just look at my computer and talk to the person at the other end of aim? What if the program naturally translates languages. It’s not that far away, i can get a guide digital recorder in which i talk into and press the button and it translates into the language i choose. Combines those two, allow anyone to speak any other language…. won’t the world be smaller then?
I can speculate all day, but this is a fact: Make the world smaller, make distances disappear, improve human communication… and but beware the curse of babel.
OceansOfThought @ April 15, 2008