Psychology of Technology: 10 Things I Love About Technology

I’ve been reviewing my technology-related blog posts of late and I’ve noticed a particular trend that I find troubling: I seem to be a technology doomsayer. The overriding theme I’ve identified in my own writing about technology is one of skepticism and caution. My posts tend to focus on the problems that technology creates, not on all the wonderful things it has to offer. You might think that I’m a real technology Chicken Little, constantly screaming that the sky is falling.

But the truth is that I am an optimist about new media. I’m constantly on my smartphone, checking email, updating my web site, posting blogs, and using Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter in my work. So why the bad attitude? Because, though an optimist, I’m also a realist and I see both the good and the bad in how technology impacts our lives. I generally don’t see the need to talk about the good things in that technology has to offer; they are, I think, self-evident and overanalyzing the positives detracts from experiencing their joys. And when technology is making our lives better, why question it. The reality is though that there are bad elements to all parts of life and only by examining them can we increase our awareness and understanding of them and, hopefully, find ways to minimize or alleviate them.

So, to start the year (and decade) on a positive technology note, I want to share with you the ten things I love about technology, in no particular order and with no complaints, just to show you how positive I can be:

1. On-line forums: Communities of helpers and givers; expert, anonymous, altruistic.
2. Skype: The next best thing to being there (for work and family).
3. Facebook: Connecting with your past, enriching your present, expanding your future.
4. Smartphones: So much power and versatility in such a little package.
5. Dual monitors: Maximum productivity; everything I need at my visual fingertips.
6. Notebook computers: I’m at my most efficient working on airplanes.
7. Bluetooth technology: No wires! How do they do that? And who is this King Bluetooth?
8. Digital cameras: Keep shooting till you get a good one (and all free).
9. Designers and engineers: They just keep coming up with cool stuff.
10. Amateur hackers and developers: They make the cool stuff even cooler.
11. A bonus: That life-changing “next big thing” that someone out there hasn’t even thought of yet, but that will be in our hands before we know it.

There you have it, my start-of-a-new-decade burst of optimism about the technologies that will shape our futures (hopefully for the better). What would you add to the list? But don’t expect me to be all smiley-face emoticon about technology from now on. My next post will probably be more 2012 than Avatar!