Ruminations on our relationship with technology
Given all the ways technology influences how we make a living, many professionals have asked: What technologies work best for what purposes? In other words (as educator Neil Postman asked), for what problem is the technology a solution? Articles on business technology, one of the Professional Topics on this site, can help shed light on this question.
In short, business technology refers to the inevitable trend of adopting innovative technologies in business. Of course, when you add a new technologies to a business, you often get a new way of doing business. That’s because new tools, machines, or media can radically change the relationship dynamics between managers, coworkers, and customers. To explore this topic, select any of the articles below.
What does the network effect of social media really scale? A common argument about the value of platforms like Facebook revolves around what’s called the network effect of social media. To start, let’s define what we mean by the network effect. The network effect: The value of a network increases as more and more people … Read more
Why AI may increase economic inequality over the years Anyone keeping up with economic news may sometimes find it difficult to be an optimist about artificial intelligence (AI). For instance, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported that AI may increase economic inequality over the years. In fact, AI will likely affect nearly 40% of … Read more
What does it mean to say blockchains are trustless? The recent rise of cryptocurrency funds just might add to the fantasy of creating a new financial system based entirely on cryptocurrency. So, I thought it would be a good time to revisit some questions about the underlying technology that makes these so-called financial products possible: … Read more
Knowledge, communication, and technology in collectivist and individualist cultures Communicating tacit and explicit knowledge through technology Previously, I’ve written about the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge, as well as its application to information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as email or video calls. To briefly recap: Explicit knowledge refers to information that’s easy to … Read more
How MS Word illustrates technology’s effect on writing Over the past few decades, Microsoft Word became one of the most prominent—if not the most prominent—word processors in the world. Recently, the BBC ran an insightful story about how this dominant word-processing software has affected the way we write. It’s a telling example of technology’s effect … Read more
Do online product reviews have a positivity problem? Summary: When reading product reviews online, we often see lots of extremely positive ratings—and just a few negative ones. What’s happening when there’s almost no nuance in how people rate things? Do these ratings have a positivity problem? When shopping online, we often read product reviews. After … Read more
Is cryptocurrency speculation one of the unintended consequences of blockchain technology? Before getting into this topic, let’s state one caveat right away. We’re not financial analysts who specialize in blockchain or cryptocurrency. So who are we to opine on this matter? We’re approaching it not from a financial analysis background but from perspectives that explore … Read more
Social media’s twofold problem: manipulative algorithms and addictive design After posting a five-part article on social media reform, as well as publishing a couple of editorials on this topic (one highlighting the problem with social media, the other looking at solutions to this problem), I thought it would be helpful to sum up these thoughts. … Read more
Addictive design vs. ethical design in social media Summary: When applying professional ethics to technology design (including ethical design in social media), there’s no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design. Designers have to make design choices. And those design choices will influence people’s decisions, including how they use the technology. Therefore, designers might want to … Read more