Escape Technology

Technology is a major democratic force, a powerful equalizer for the unprivileged. A billionaire cannot use a better phone than an average user of the latest generational of iPhone. In fact, many of the luxury items and experience today are noted for their lack of a technological touch. Luxury highlights direct customer service with real human beings face-to-face, products that cannot be manufactured at scale with the "cutting edge", food that can only be consumed at limited time at a specific place. Luxury can also mean abundance of time. Time itself is a luxury goods.

The problem with technology is that the consumer-facing products are too good at providing instant gratification: video games, porn, movies, TV shows, and music. Any one of the entertainment genres are touches of fingertips away. Removal of burdens to access to those content also means it is more difficult to control one's natural tendency for enjoyment. The hard work and thinking required for achievement are grounded in reality. But technology is pulling us away from reality at a faster speed and more variety than ever. I am probably the last one voicing concerns for the abundance of technology. Apple recognizes that people can be addicted to screen time, hence the release of Screen Time in iOS. That's hardly enough. In fact, the pessimist in me believe that screen time is almost impossible to control by some optional third party tools. One has to change from within to get away from the addiction to screen time.

It is unproductive to argue that we need to dial back technological development, but it will be helpful to set more up-to-date boundaries for certain industries and certain companies by the government. It appears that all companies are in one shape or form technology companies, for technology is the interwoven fabric underlying all forms of business. The instant gratification part, however, seems to stem from only internet technology companies-the largest internet companies are all culprit in cultivating digital addiction. The benefits of their technology is clear. But it is also important that the right regulations and policies are in place to keep their vices in control.

Technology Diffusion - Notes on The Lever of Riches

The Lever of Riches, by Joel Mokyr is a fascinating book dense with quotable gems like the ones below:

"Like silk, worsteds were a delicate and relatively up-market fabric woven into patterns using the so-called Jacquard loom, one of the most sophisticated technological breakthroughs of the time. The Jacquard loom was perfected in 1801 by Joseph Marie Jacquard, a Lyons ilk weaver, following a century of efforts by French inventors to device a loom that could automatically weave patterns into fabric. The patterns were coded on cards by means of holes representing the information in a binary code. The cards were probed by rods connected to wires, transmitting the information embedded in them."

"What became known as the Jacquard loom was in fact invented by two Frenchmen in the late 1720s, One of them, Basile Bouchon, was the son of an organmaker, which is significant because the organ is the first direct application of the binary coding of information."

"The Jacquard loom inspired Charles Babbage in the design of his famous Analytical Engine and Richard Roberts in the design of a multiple-spindle machine..."