WISDOM IN A NUTSHELL
TAMING TECHNOLOGY
You Can Control the Beast
By
Brian J. Nichelsen, Ph.D.
Cameo Publications, LLC May 2003
ISBN 0-9715739-6-4
125 pages
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Taming Technology
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Authors website: http://www.techmattersinstitute.com
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Taming Technology
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The Big Idea
Taming Technology is one of the brilliantly written books by Brian J. Nichelsen,
Ph. D. that enable us to deal and cope with technology 24/7 each day of the
year.
This book gives us an in-depth understanding that technology need not be feared
but with common sense savvy should enable us to harness its potentials to make
us more productive and efficient.
Whether in the work place or at home we seek more satisfaction in the use of
techno-gadgetry and simple electronic devices that we are prone to depend on
daily in keeping our lives in-sync with the life style that we want and the seamless
efficiency that it gives us in a business environment.
Dr. Nichelsen gives us 3 technology maxims to emphasize his thesis in this book
that technology can be tamed, namely: (1), Technology is simpler than you think;
(2), Technology equals people; and, (3) Technology is interconnected.
He also gives us a simple step-by-step procedure in dealing with technology in
any form or substance that will enable people to get what they want done either
at the work place or at home.
Dr. Nichelsen asserts that the key to harnessing successfully technology is for
engineers, designers, software developers, and other members of the product
development team to always consider the human interface that will use the
product and to incorporate this factor in designing and manufacturing their
products.
He stresses that a help menu should be able to help not confuse a software user
and a customer service should be able to assist and answer the queries of the
customer as intended.
Inabilities of the user to cope with the technology properly in using simple office
gadgets could result in significant stress or antipathy towards the device, waste
of time, money and resources and if replicated in several employees in several
departments in a company for a year when left unchecked could lead to serious
losses for that company.
Also a company buying technology need to conduct a thorough evaluation in
terms of being user friendly, cost, obsolescence, upgradeability, reliability,
productivity, and efficiency.
The six chapters written by Dr. Nichelsen enlighten people to control their fears
of operating technology driven devices from computers to photocopiers, etc. that
eventually ease the stress out of using them.
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Taming Technology
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Introduction
Dr. Nichelsen stresses that we should take control of technology instead of us
being controlled by it. And surely he posits that every technology challenges
involve two important variables: technology and the people that use it.
Therefore it is important to design better human-centric technology and to help
people gain the upper hand by letting them have a better understanding of how
and why it affects people, and how they can control technology better.
Dr. Nichelsen says that to accomplish this we need to know the technology that
is important to people, how people interact with technology, and the context
within which technology works.
He then outlined his three maxims as follows:
1. Technology is simpler than you think.
2. Technology equals people.
3. Technology is interconnected.
These 3 maxims give the reader a perspective of technology and the world we
live in.
Chapter One: Technology Affects Everyone
According to Dr. Nichelsen, buying a simple SOHO printer combofax, printer,
scanner, and copierrequires a serious process analysis. You have to get
information from people, from the internet, magazines, newspapers, and from
word of mouthfriends and relatives.
The author admitted that people are still the best sources of information and he
made sure that he checked with several good sources about the printer combo
machines that worked well and he even checked the soundness of an all-in-oneconcept itself.
Then he assessed his needs in his projected use of the machine in the context of
his home office.
Dr. Nichelsen also made an example of the process of purchasing a car. He says
a car buyer needs to understand a lot of the car technologies and how they fit
and interconnect together. He does not suggest that a car buyer be an expert in
any of the technologies of the car. But what he suggests that a car buyer has to
have a working knowledge of said technologies.
Having a working knowledge of these technologies he says will have a great
impact on the buyers choice of the brand and type of car that he will buy
including its operation and maintenance.
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Aside from the technology itself, the car buyer is also confronted with the issue of
image, safety features, and then the money considerations to buy this bundle of
technology.
All the different components of the car must work together if the car is to run
properly. Thus, understanding how the technologies work in a car is crucial to
empowering the buyer to buy one that will he can operate safely and maintain
cost-effectively.
Another example he showed us is the frequent outages he experienced in his
residence. This case according to Dr. Nichelsen required dealing with people
behind the technology to fix the outage problem.
He tells us that these 3 cases require that we should have a fair understanding of
the technology to leverage the human element behind the technology. He
suggests that by internalizing and applying the 3 maxims we will begin to see
technology in a new perspective that will let us understand not fear technology
and how it operates and impacts our lives.
Chapter 2: The Nature of The Beast
Melvin Kransberg and Carroll Pursell define technology as mans efforts to cope
with his environment and his attempts to subdue or control that environment
by means of his imagination and ingenuity in the use of available resources.
Whereas Lynn White says that technology is the systematic modification of the
physical environment for human ends.
The above definitions boils down to (1) humans trying to (2) exert control over (3)
our environment. In essence a working definition is humans trying to control our
environment.
What then are the faces of technology? These are:
Consumer technology.
Proprietary technology.
Technology of all sizes.
More than just high tech.
Much more than personal computers.
According to Dr. Nichelsen, technologys roots could be traced from the invention
of the mechanical clock in Milans St. Got hard church that struck equal hours
night and day in 1335.
With this development, time dominated mans life from the Middle Ages to
modern times.
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Today, people are judged with their efficiency and productivity on the basis of the
unit of productivity per unit of time.
With the onset of industrialization in England from the mid 1700s, people were
threatened with job losses as many manufacturing processes were mechanized.
Luddites and secret societies were organized by people who felt that machines
are displacing people in factories resulting in job losses. They retaliated by
destroying machineries and burning down factories.
Later on people who were anti-technology were branded as Luddites.
Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line in building his cars that ushered the era
of mass production.
Even when his workers were well paid, the assembly line was considered a
dehumanizing experience since it paced the workers, the work was repetitive,
and the assembly line eradicated the need for skilled craftsmen and workers.
Workers had little or no control with the production processes or the machines,
stood at their stations all day, endlessly perform tasks, and concentrate only in
keeping up with the machines.
The assembly line was considered a dead end career with only few rising as
foremen.
With the end of World War II, new processes and machinery came to deepen the
dislocation of workers.
With automation, the fear of technology by the people became more heightened
so much so that in 1955 the US Congress conducted public hearings from all
sectors of society on the threat of automation that posed on jobs.
Technology terrified people. This has been made more dramatic with the
invention and use of the atomic bomb to end the war with Japan during the
Second World War. And yet, there were beneficial spin offs from the bomb such
as nuclear power plants,
The view today is that technology has created new ways of working, new classes
of people, and new attitudes towards careers and employment. Technology has
allowed people to leave the city while working there. Telecommuting has become
a practical way of working today.
Alvin Toffler said in his Future Shock book (1970), that people are apprehensive
with the relentless onslaught of technology. People resist change and uncertainty
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since there are no more anchors that people can tie onto. Technological
advances deepen further peoples apprehensions.
Do people and technology mix? Definitely. Material well being has taken the
place of human values. People tend to glorify showy technology as a matter of
course whether owning the latest brand of cell phones or having media trumpet
the latest technological wonders such as the Chunnel, Malaysias Petronas
building, and TGV.
With the further denigration of technology, people tend to speak of technology as
if it were alive such as the car wont start or the PC wont let me do such and
such. Although we know technology is not alive, sometimes we actually think
technology is in charge.
With peoples dependence on technology, what happens if any one of these
technologies were to have a breakdown? No work will be done until a PC is up
and running.
Technology is known as a tool for manipulating people. With peer pressure, glitzy
ads, and the lure of something new, people are compelled to own the latest
techno-gadgets and electronic devices.
We participate in this manipulation since we listen to commercials, what people
think, and because we give in to temptations to own a product.
Is technology good, bad, or neutral? Melvin Kranzberg answers this through his
First Law of Technology which says that:
Technology is neither good, bad, or is neutral.
Technologys interaction with the social ecology is such that technical
developments frequently have environmental, social, and human consequences
that go far beyond the immediate purposes of the technical devices and practices
themselves, and the same technology can have quite different results when
introduced into different contexts or under different circumstances.
What technology does to us? Below are some of the negative categories:
1. Resistance to changeas a natural tendency, people refuse to change or
adapt to new technology.
2. Loss of controlpeople feel helpless at times when simple technology lords it
over.
3. Dislocation.technology tears us away from our old values.
4. Denial of human valuestechnology has denigrated human interactions.
5. The Red Queen Syndromethe pace of technological change continues to
grow exponentially and people find it difficult to keep pace.
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Chapter 3: Know Your Stuff
Knowing technology is important. It could kill you or save you.
The adage Knowledge is Power dramatizes the dearth of information that are
not readily available from engineers and other technical specialists today.
Instruction manuals, help desks, and tech support sites should be able to help
people use properly and safely the technology gadgets that they buy.
It is therefore important that people should help themselves to know more about
technology.
How do we do this?
People should educate themselves about technology in their lives. It can be done
since technology is simpler than one thinks. We should break down technology
into its components to simplify it.
Complex technology can be broken down into its simplest components and
sometimes you only need to have a macro view to know what you need to know
to understand the underlying technology.
Steps in your personal technology learning strategy:
1. Determine your needs. Look at the building blocks of knowledge which
usually starts in grade school. Next learn more about the specific devices you
use. Then assess your own personality. Finally consider your learning style.
2. Assess the resources available to you. Check the resources available to you
from books to magazines, the internet, and up to formal training sessions.
3. Rank the resources in order of usefulness to you and weed out those
resources that are not useful to you.
4. Make or allow the time to use the resources. This means read and update
your technology knowledge every day even for a few minutes only.
For information, you can read, watch or talk with the following resources: books,
magazines, Newspapers, Television, Internet, Product documentation, Support
websites, Online Help, Training, Networking, Technical support, Seminars, and
Super users.
Chapter 4: The Human Element
Technology is created by people for people.
There are ways to look at technology where people fit into the process of
technological development
Engineering design is a key element wherein engineers make designs not in
isolation.
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It is a complex process in problem solving that requires the following phases:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Need identification;
Feasibility study;
Preliminary design; and,
Detailed design.
The social construction of technology view that technology is a product of
society.
People can and must fix technology and we can do this by interfacing and
working closely with people who we call to fix our machines by talking to them,
listening to them, understanding them, working with them, empathizing with
them, and remembering that they are people too.
Another way to do this is to educate yourself on the problem that you encounter
with your technology problem that will enable you to explain that problem to your
tech support rep. You should be able to relate and understand that tech support
reps are people too.
There are two types of people in technology. Those who create it and those who
can fix it.
Technology creates potential and that potential allows us to have a voice in
technology.
With many decisions made by government and business leaders that affect our
own very lives dramatically, we should be able to influence those decisions
however we can to make a difference.
Making a decision on technology means taking a personal responsibility since
however we decide, technology affects our lives, our health, finances, and our
general well being.
Unmasking the beast. If we have a problem with technology then we have a
problem with people since it is people that use technology. Technology does not
operate in isolation since the human element in technology is ever present.
Chapter 5: The Big Picture
To control technology, we need to realize that technology is a complex
interconnection of technologies hence technology is interconnected.
No technology operates in a vacuum. It works as an interconnection with other
working technologies.
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So choosing and using the right technology that you may want to purchase
require an in-depth analysis. An evaluation will help you understand better how to
use and maintain said technology. The trick is to break down to its simplest
components each block of technology.
Chapter 6: Taking Control
We need to exorcise our fear of technology no matter how much we learn.
Unless we do something about this fear, we will not be able rid ourselves of the
five responses to technology:
1. Resistance to change: by nature a human resist change and is a creature of
habits.
2. Loss of control: technology remains a mystery to most people.
3. Dislocation: with new technology, people are lost from the information loop if
they dont adapt to new ways of communication such as having an email.
4. Denial of human values: Privacy is one issue that current internet technology
has made an issue of.
5. The Red Queen Syndrome. With information overload and technology
changes far faster than we can cope with, the only option is to keep pace with
it.
It is a must that we should take the bull by its horns if we want to get ahead with
technology and to eliminate the five responses above.
The three technology maxims repeated below will help the reader new ways of
interacting and coping with new technology:
1. Technology is simpler than you think;
2. Technology equals people; and,
3. Technology is interconnected.
The following action plans will help the reader adapt as a how-to-guide in
applying what the reader have learned in this book:
1. Internalize the maxims. You must focus on learning technologies that you
deal with, looking for the people behind them, and seeing them within the
bigger picture.
2. Assess the technology you deal with at home and at work.
3. Plan how to deal with each.
4. Integrate the maxims in your life.
5. Do it!
Finally share what you have learned with others and above all else have fun with
technology.
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