BBC Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones was the guest at last Friday’s Gorkana media briefing held at the illustrious Institution of Engineering and Technology. Very interesting, definitely useful and quite funny.
On Twitter Mr Cellan-Jones described his audience as scary. Sure, there were a lot of very serious-looking and fairly unimportant tech-pro-look-at-how-many-phones-I-have types hoping for some face-time with Rory. Possibly more irritating than scary. Nonetheless, before the assault began, Rory discussed where (in his view) the future of technology is heading. Social media, augmented reality and the mobilisation of the internet were all discussed.
However, one suggestion that struck me as particularly interesting was the way in which we are starting to change the way we interact with computers – the 25-year-long mouse/ keyboard bonanza draws to an end. Will QWERTY continue to be the password for all my accounts? Apparently not!
The question is… what will replace this loveable combo of keys and wires that we’ve come to know and love, and essentially depend on? How do you re-train the world? Interactive gaming has proven that there is a large market for this visionary, jump-around-the-room type of interaction. Mums love the Nintendo Wii, apparently.
Quite a large portion of the population, myself included, are fundamentally opposed (meaning quietly reserved) to this kind of interactive engagement. It’s entirely less accurate, clumsy, lacks depth, and moving more than my thumbs isn’t what I want to be doing after a hard day at work writing really, really good blogs. It’s great for occupying young children, but so too are crayons.
The more serious question is whether we’re ready to implement this kind of technology in the workplace. Imagine writing 1,000 words if you had to wave your arms selecting different letter, or repeat a word four times because a phone supplier didn’t engage enough with Scottish people to recognise your accent.
The potential for excess stress and diminishing productivity is a real threat to the future of evolving technology in the work place. I’m all for development, but so long as it’s handled well and not integrated excessively for its own sake.
Rory Cellan-Jones, photo courtesy of matlock on Flickr