Categories: IxD, graduate school, technology, videos

I found Kevin Kelly’s exploration of the world from the technology point of view as an eye opener for designers. He first talks about how powerful technology is becoming. For example, he compared the computing power of the web to the computing power of the human brain and concluded the parameters of the web as a whole is similar to the human brain.

100 billion clicks per day.
1 trillion links – same number of synapses in the human brain
1 quintillion transistors - as many neurons in the human brain
Web computing power will exceed that of all humans in 2020-2040.

Later, he mentions that technology is increasing at such a rapid pace, its determining our culture.

The video points out that technology cannot be prohibited because it keeps growing, and eventually it will alter its environment to maximize itself. Can you envision how technology could affect our lives in 2040? In Sci-fi movies, directors often display the human race’s power struggle with technology in a negative aspect- robots turning on humans in iRobot, the Decepticons in Transformers, the unstoppable cyborgs in the Terminator, or the sentinel attacks in the Matrix. Observe how these technologies impact and sometimes overpower their environments. Not to create a state of paranoia, but imagine what could happen when humans lose complete control of the technology we create?

I then started thinking about how technology affects everyone in this program. As we mature as designers and become successful in our field, during our lifetime we will create many solutions to many design problems. But every solution we create, will unintentionally create a new set of problems due to external factors beyond our control.

After watching this video, the message as it relates to design became visible. As designers, we must take responsibility of the consequences our creations create and as Kelly said, “Be parents of technology”.