You'll see in the header for this blog that I've defined a Deliberate Utility as "A system or device which is elegant, productive, and simplifies an action".
Even more simply stated - a Deliberate Utility is designed use-ability. It's a product or service which is so simple to use and effective that it permeates our lives, effortlessly. Its use becomes second nature almost over night. Think - running water or email.
Anyway - as the '00s have closed, I thought it would be interesting to make a list of the personal technology products that impacted my life with the greatest ease over the past 10 years.
1. Wi-Fi (it took all of 10 mins to set my first access point up - instant internet mobility).
2. MP3 Players (iPod obviously changed the game but it wasn't the first MP3 player)
3. USB Drives (does anyone remember the floppy? what about ZIP discs?)
4. MapQuest (what was life like before you could look up driving directions on the 'net?)
5. YouTube (little known fact, YouTube is the second most utilized search tool)
6. TiVO (From bulky VCR tapes to hard-drive storage and time-shifting... seemed like overnight)
7. The iPhone (while I don't own one, I respect what it did to the smartphone market)
8. RSS feeds + news readers (all the news I want in one place.... nice)
9. Pandora (this tool redefined internet radio for me)
10. Facebook (it's amazing how easily you can reconnect with your past)
Feel free to chime in with a similar list of your own. I'd love to read what others found as their deliberate utilities over the past 10 years.
Here is another question for you - are there any that have been made obsolete recently that you miss? My ego misses pagers badly. Nuttin like getting blowed up to feel like you're important...
ReplyDeleteSeeing these listed here makes me realize how much they've been incorporated into my daily life in such a short peroid of time. I resisted adopting each of them as they were introduced but can't imagine not having them at this point.
ReplyDelete@Moop: it's funny that you mention pagers. I've been thinking about that service myself, recently. Remember when 2-way pagers were hot?
ReplyDeleteAnswer me this, what's the difference between 2-way paging and text messaging? It seems to me that there is a business model behind bringing 2-way paging back on the cheap. I'm sure there is a group of people out there that don't want to take a phone call - period. They operate via texting, exclusively.