Robots Without A Cause

from the innovation-without-reason dept

A typically myopic look at people and companies who seem to come up with new technologies for the sake of new technologies - but without any real useful purpose. Basically, it's the typical set of complaints about feature-creep. Lots of products add random useless features that attract attention. The thing is, though, you never really know what's going to catch on. Sure, a thumbprint unlocking system on a car may seem useless, but if it sells that many more cars, it might be worth it to the company. Plus, there are plenty of times when a new technology comes out that seems useless, but inspires others to build on it, and create something truly innovative. The article seems to complain that none of these new technologies further humankind in any meaningful way, but rather are designed to just pamper those of us rich enough to afford them. This seems to be the typical neo-Luddite response to things. If they can't see a way that this product makes their lives better (or the lives of others they seem to believe they're responsible for) it must be "bad". Now, I'm the first to admit that there are tons of useless products and technologies being worked on every day (they get written up here often enough). However, the nice thing about a culture that encourages people to experiment and create new technologies is that the end results will often surprise you.

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