The missing technology instruction manual

With every new device we buy, with every app we download we get given a set of instructions. We may not always choose to read them but they are always there for reference should we need. In fact, we would like to think that our technology has advanced to the point where it is so intuitive and easy to use that needing a set of instructions has become quite unnecessary.

But its the opposite which is true.

Although the design of individual devices and apps has become increasingly sophisticated, the sheer number of technologies we need to manage and the interaction between these various devices and the rest of our lives has become increasingly difficult to manage.

Technology has in fact become far more complex

and instructions for how to manage this haven’t been provided.

Great technology should make low value time more valuable or eliminate it all together. It should help us connect meaningfully with one another and bring us closer together. It should enhance our real world experiences and allow us to focus on the work that matters.

Yet the apprehension and frustration we experience with technology is a sure sign that this is not always what we're getting.

• Social media is distracting us from friends and family (just as it connects us to people and ideas from the other side of the world).
• Wikipedia is stifling debate and discussion (just as it enables learning and understanding).
• Streaming music is drowning out the birdsongs and the rustle of the wind in the trees (just as it provides a soundtrack to our lives).

What is more, with each successive generation of technology the number of devices we have and the complexity that needs to be managed continues to multiply.

To a greater or lesser extent this is the challenge we are all facing. How do we live and work in an increasingly technology rich world without it taking over our lives? How can obtain the benefits that technology offers without needlessly suffering the potentially negative consequences?

My mission for 2017 is to start exploring these types of questions. And hopefully to uncover the guiding principles that will allow for us to operate in a technology rich future without compromising what it means to be human.

So this is my invitation to you.

Perhaps you're also dealing with frustrations and challenges, perhaps like me you worry that without due care and thoughtfulness a technology vortex that could suck us away from the rich, meaningful, real life experiences we ultimately crave. If so I invite you, in fact I encourage you to join me.

Share what you know,

confide in me your concerns and fears,

tell me who else I should to be talking to,

and when necessary, challenge my ideas.

May 2017 be a year of shared discovery.

This blog post has been syndicated to Medium. If you'd like to add comments or ideas, head over to this page.