One of the things I want to accomplish here is to look at the macro forces that are shaping the face of technology and “future” as we think about it, as well as some examples of how this is revolutionizing everyday objects and innovating how we define “everyday.”
Consider: Technology and time have always been linked. We tend to associate the two, as technology often marks time in ways that we have no way to express—benchmarks, if you will. Archaeology is ripe with this: often, time periods are marked by the prolific technology of the time (e.g. broad periods like Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic marking significant shifts in use of lithics (stone); but also shorter periods like the Oldowan, Achuelian, Iron Age periods). We think in in terms of fire, the wheel, agriculture, iron, townships, firearms, the printing press, electricity, the telegraph, trains, automobiles, planes, and then the list really starts to explode. Each of these symbolizes chronological milestones for what were all slow, but serendipitous and groundbreaking, solutions for solving the host of challenges humans face in their daily lives.
This dance between technology and time is age-old, one with many manifestations, and with a common denominator: us. In fact, it’s the human component that is that unspoken force of technology; technology would not be without our capacity to synthesize knowledge and our will to adapt and create.
To borrow a line from the Wiki entry for Technology:
“The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, mathematical, linguistic, and historical knowledge, to achieve some practical result.”
This is where that juxtaposition I mentioned earlier is so relevant. We are the remarkable and relentless force behind our own disruption.