Measuring Progress

There are so many ways and metrics of measuring progress over the last few decades, some obvious, others, not so much. But I think one of the most obvious ones is the fact that end users are now in command of technology, and they, not the Chairmen in boardrooms or professors at universities, are the new bosses who determine and shape the destiny of technology.

More than ever, consumers drive the tech world. They want things bigger and smaller at the same time; where else would you find a market for monstrous 70″+ TVs and mini-iPod screens, both measured as progresses in technology? Digital cameras have all but replaced traditional film cameras, and have vanquished Polaroids in terms of instant gratification. GPS devices are fast replacing paper road maps. Look at the evolution of personal computers, from those massive clunkers eating up half your desk, to the current netbook computers. All of these are not obscure and/or inaccessible specialist technologies. These are everyday devices used by John Q. Public, who continues to push for improvements and advances.

Roll all of those devices in the previous paragraph into a single convenient instrument and you’ve gotten what’s perhaps the singular device that’s epitomized progress over the last decade: the cell phone. I’m not even sure you can call it a phone anymore…

But even beyond consumer technologies, look at everyday experiences, such as watching television, especially sports broadcasts. Have you ever looked at a sports broadcast from the 1980′s or before and compared it to today? Look at the text and instant replay abilities (not to mention the fashion sense of the sportscasters and athletes alike).

So there you have it: you can measure progress (unscientifically) by looking at the proliferation of consumer technologies and fashion! Don’t believe me? Compare the former East Germany 20 years ago when the Berlin Wall came down to the same region today. Politics and those matters aside, consider their progress since emerging from communism.