Let’s just say that this newsletter comes out on either Thursdays or Fridays, depending on how I’m feeling.
Hype Cycles
Do you remember a few years ago when Google Glass was going to be the big next thing? Or how AR/VR have been promised to become the NEW most important technology for years? All of these concepts are representative of the idea known as a hype cycle, which can succinctly be described by Amara’s law: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.” The idea is that we love to hop onto the newest, hottest thing and believe it will be really important, even if it may eventually prove to be useless or harmful.
I’ve been thinking about how quickly some technologies were adopted, just because they seemed interesting or novel. For example, Slack is a messaging platform that was released in 2013 and has quickly become one of the standard ways that companies around the world communicate around the world. Imagine a chat room that never goes away and always seems to have new content. Initially touted as an alternative to email, Slack has become ubiquitous. Beyond being on nearly everyone’s computer, I know that it’s one of the most distracting pieces of software ever created. Molly Fischer of NY Mag explains that "Like Facebook or Twitter, Slack induces the same anxious, attention-hungry rhythm in its users, the same need to endlessly refresh, and gives off the same illusion of intimacy in an ultimately public space."
The sheer novelty of “getting rid of email” and the idea that speed was the biggest issue with email allowed Slack to completely take over how things work. This is the same concept that led to the mass adoption of all the social networks that we are so lovingly addicted to. A lot of these social media companies are facing disillusionment from their users for a variety of reasons, but it’s unlikely that they will go away any time soon and completely likely that they’ll have many longer lasting impacts. Other technologies disappear due to this disillusionment and end up feeding new ideas, but social media is a rare exception, since it plays so strongly into our brain chemistry, keeping us enraptured beyond the hype cycle.
All of this makes me think about the technology I’d like to be involved in designing. I imagine a world where all new software would have to go through an inspection for addictiveness, by either going through an evaluation against Nir Eyal’s Hook model or other principles. Perhaps it would go even further, and scan users’ brains while they interacted with the technology to see if neural responses mirror any dangerous patterns or habits present in other forms of human behavior. Again and again, technology is built without intentionality or without exploring the possible repercussions and I can only hope that we can learn from these mistakes.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Article
“Young Jean Lee’s Unsafe Spaces” by Parul Sehgal - intriguing look at an equally intriguing figure making theatre-goers rethink everything.
Movie
Casablanca - you may have heard of one of the greatest films of all time. It’s been many years since this film came out, but it still holds a lot of value. There’s something so captivating about both the acting and the incredible lighting of closeups that cannot be missed.
Playlist
“Just Cosmo” by Cosmo Pyke - a fun good time from an English teenager with some instruments.
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:~)
Love,
Nikhil