Gaps in Logic
Technology products and services need to make sense, taking into account
human behavior, which is shaped by both inherent physical and mental
capabilities and life experiences. Ingenuity is a valuable trait, but the
products and services need to add value. Form must follow function; they
are not purely art. And they need to work reliably for a reasonable lifetime.
While it is important to make a profit to stay in business, they should be
designed by engineers or designers, not accountants.
Technology companies of all sorts are bringing us miracles and near-miracles of
information hardware, software, and content; productive and/or entertaining
gadgets and services; life-saving or time-saving pharmaceuticals and materials;
etc. They're enriching our lives and enriching themselves. All well and good. A
lot of the content and services that the information sector is providing us is
"free". Actually not totally free, nor should we expect it to be. In many instances,
in return for the value-added it is providing, it is bombarding us with a huge amount
of advertising, some of it disguised as objective information. As consumers, we all
need to be aware that "there ain't no free lunch", and decide how much free stuff we
want (e.g., ad-driven Google searches) and how much we'll pay when we want objective
information (e.g., Wikipedia).