LinkedIn - Answers to Age Old Questions
by
on March 18, 2007,
LinkedIn is Web 2.0's version of exchanging business cards at a huge international business conference. More than that, LinkedIn is a community of people that make relationships matter. I know, that is their motto on the web page, but the professionals I have had contact with have exemplified the terms professional and connection.
I posted a question that people at LinkedIn could respond to, as a way of giving different perspectives and viewpoints about technology in general. I think the answers say as much about all of us as any detailed study might render. So let's see how these intelligent, diverse and professional people responded to a question we see all the time here on the Web.
In your opinion, what are the best and worst innovations in technology? (Timeline - 40 to 50 years)
|
Professionals |
Best Technology |
Worst Technology |
|
Alex Dragomirescu |
The Internet based on a project out of the National Academy of Engineering. |
Nuclear Weapons, though that is slightly outside the time line.
|
|
Chris Warrender |
Miniaturization because it transcends all technology. |
The failure to employ technology to protect children's human rights on the Internet. |
|
Dean Lucero |
Flash memory because it is nearly every piece of digital equipment from cameras to MP3's |
Bubble memory because it became obsolete with faster technology.
|
|
Howard Earle Halpern MA (Psych) CPRW |
Technologies pioneered by Carl Rogers, developed for the communication of empathy. |
Television, for its ability to generate negative behaviors. |
|
Janet Gershen-Siegal |
Medical Technology such as, MRI, CAT scan, radiation therapy etc. These inventions have saved millions of lives. |
Kitchen junk or ridiculous devices that only perform one function.
|
|
Richard Harrison |
The Internet, especially those entities that managed to survive the dot-com boom of the 90's. |
Infrastructures and engineering solutions that don't decipher how to apply the latest technology. |
|
Steve Paulsson |
The Internet, because it is clean and efficient, especially if we can utilize it for truly universal education. |
Our worst technological invention would have to be nuclear weapons, unless we need them to nuke an asteroid.
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|
Tony Turner |
Automatic drip coffee makers. |
Email marketing and telemarketing software/hardware.
|
|
Ray van den Bel |
The best (web 3.0 actually) is Second Life |
Yahoo 360 - they totally failed in properly doing that. |
|
Ann Marshall |
Internet, and personal computers |
Useless gadgets promoting unhealthy lifestyles. Deep fryers, waffle makers etc. |
These are much abbreviated answers but it is readily evident that many of the answers, even though extracted from some of the best minds in business, are somewhat egocentric. I have been wondering for a while why people of varied backgrounds, ages and professions tend to answer in this typical fashion. Is the best answer to a problem what we know, or is it something we need to find out?
I noticed this in so many "geek" web communities and blogs, and now we see hints of the same thing in a very professional community. Look at the answers and compare them to your own. Can you see that even though these are all good answers, they are centered on what the people responding do? Gamers might answer that the best technology is WoW, while geeks might say Google is the greatest invention of the 20th century because they like it.
Only some of the answers reveal the people behind the professions. A brilliant psychologist gives a psychological response, a dynamic engineer makes a list of quantitative empirical evidence. Yet a nice woman, who also happens to be a brilliant data analyst, gives a medical breakthrough answer?
None of these answers are wrong, these are all brilliant and astute professionals. I will ask my friends there, and invite you out there to leave your comments on my little mini-research project. Are we all being hardened/conditioned, and thus limited by our hyper interests and professions? Below is a hint to my answer.
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Svetlana Gladkova
Michael Fidler 
jiri
Well, this is a difficult question. I don’t agree that Television is bad - the negative behaviors come from the lack of education. Television is a great invention. The problem comes from the producers who focus on the commercial and sensational rather than on delivering educational programs.
I think the Internet is a great invention (yet not the greatest) and the reasons are obvious: communication has never been faster and easier. I cannot think of “bad” inventions. Wait… as a matter of fact I can: spyware and viruses. Weapons are apriori bad. We don’t even need to discuss that. But the technology behind them is brilliant (sad but true). Brilliant is the technology behind spyware as well. Some technologies failed, but not necessarily in a bad way: they lead to other technologies.
This is really puzzling me… I’ll have to give it a serious thought.
Thanks for your insight Mihaela! These are interesting questions. Like you, I see that invention is all good if the application of it is used to the best advantage. My choice would be the modern computer because of the multitude of devices powered by the little boxes. I can’t see us solving the riddles of the universe or society over the cell phone.
Thanks, Phil Butler