The future has arrived. The new Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch is finally out. You can wear it on your wrist and it can respond to your voice and run apps. It sounds fantastic and will no doubt be another step forward in the personal technology arms race.
The future has always been about technology, hasn’t it? In the future we’ll have robots that will do all the work, driverless cars that fly, jet packs and silver high tech clothing. We won’t sit down to eat but instead have some pills that give us all the energy and nutrients that we need.
Yet the future hasn’t turned out like that. We are always living in someone’s future but we’re still going to work, our cars are firmly on the ground and I’m looking forward to pie and mash. So how come we got it so wrong? How come our lives aren’t like the Jetsons or Ed Straker from UFO?
Because life isn’t about technology, it is about people. The revolution that we are witnessing right now may seem like a digital technology one but in fact it is a human revolution. The most successful digital technologies are those that improve the interaction between humans. The mobile phone was life changing as it allowed people to connect from wherever they were. The picture phone was a great invention not because it took photos but because we could share them with our colleagues. The smartphone is impressive because it allows us to have a wealth of information at our fingertips and empowers us to connect with others in ways that were just not possible a few years ago.
Whenever a new technology appears it is the first adopters that take it up. The clue is in their name. Yet technology doesn’t become main stream until the people find its use and adapt their lifestyle to accommodate the opportunity that it presents.
So will the Samsung Galaxy Gear be a success? Only time will tell but in the end its success will not be based upon its technological achievement but rather its ability to improve the way that humans can interact.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 