Did Silicon Valley Hijack the Definition of Technology?
Have you noted that when you go and read the techsolutionstips online, and read through the various stories from the syndicated websites that they usually have a technology section, and that technology section is filled with the latest gadgets, social networking methods, and any of the newest things coming from Silicon Valley? I have, and as a lover of technology, and coordinator for a think tank, I am disturbed by all this. Now then let me explain what I mean.
There are plenty of new technologies that are extremely important, technologies that if we didn’t have we wouldn’t be where we are today. Likewise many of the challenges of the future will be solved through technology. And most of the major challenges don’t have to do with the latest social network. For instance, if we want to solve the pollution problem, or have less CO2 in the atmosphere, then maybe we need to work more on clean coal technologies. Incidentally, it’s amazing how far all of that technology has come in the last five years, but you don’t hear much about it much do you?
Right and why is that? What about all the new material technology, and carbon nanotubes, and all the things that will make our cars lighter and stronger, and our aircraft more efficient? Technologies that will allow us to go down to the bottom of the ocean, and perhaps mine rare Earth elements from the seafloor without disturbing any aquatic life that is down there? Don’t you want to learn about that sort of technology? Why are we being barraged with the latest sleek displays, e-readers, and smart phones? Isn’t there more to life than that? Don’t get me wrong, they are great little consumer personal tech devices, but.
It seems that the marketeers, the press releases, and an abundance of money flowing into those sectors have hijacked the definition of technology. People now read the news and assume that technology comes from Silicon Valley? Yes, I would submit to you that much of the hard-core technology comes from IBM, Intel, and other Silicon Valley companies – but that doesn’t mean that all technology comes from Silicon Valley, or that it’s the only place where major strides are being made and broken.
It seems to me that in the syndicated news such as Google, MSN, and some of the other search engines which offer all the news stories around the world, well, they ought to divide the technology section up with new categories such as: