NEXT NEW THINGS NEXT
Tuesday Apr. 10, 2018
Is the internet everything we think it is – EVERYTHING?
Or just a fad?
Are texting, email, blogging, websites and social media fads?
How long should something last to be called a fad?
Hoola-hoops; invented in 1958. When did everyone stop caring/wanting one of those? They’ve been replaced by nothing …
Fax machines, technology invented in 1843; first commercial versions in 1964, ubiquitous by early 1980s – hardly relevant any longer. I still have one, but it doesn’t ring often. Nobody under 30 sends faxes – they just make jokes about me being old-school. My ‘new thing’ replaced by scanning and PDF’s in about 30 years. Every fax machine in use today will be in a landfill within five years.
Pet rocks, conceive in 1975 and faded by 1976. Does anyone have a Pet Rock carrier?
Chia pets, created in 1977 – still exist. Why?
Fads fade.
Is your job, your business, your hobby – just a fad to be obsoleted next time you blink?
We can’t count on a job or business built on a fad to last/sustain us for very long.
As most of us are entangled both intentionally and enveloped by internet/AI/connectivity (isn’t everyone?), before we all opt for self-driving cars, how about the self-driven life? Or at least as self-driving shopping cart?
We CAN return to basics, ‘stay current’ and embrace our future – all at the same time, can’t we?
What will we find when we leap of the next cliff?
Where will we land the next time we stretch beyond where our headlights can see?
Nearly every new thing we embrace is at first, a new fad – then trending, then everyone has one (or it’s gone) and then we wondered what we did without it until the next new thing comes along and we wonder why we needed that other old thing we don’t need anymore.
Reader feedback:
SLIPS AWAY WHEN WE ARE NOT LOOKING
Hi Mark, Today’s writing about making new friends and aging touched my heart. I enjoy your daily thoughts. Today’s thought was one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing yourself with all of us, IT, Calgary, AB
