Does technology simplify our life? Economist debate

I love the great arguments that take place around The Economist's online debates as much as the debacles that take place on the newspaper's own site. This week sees a new debate kick off, with one of my heros in the 'Con' side:

"This house believes that if the promise of technology is to simplify our lives, it is failing."

It's not an easy one on which to predict the outcome since I'm sure many readers of this blog would agree that while technology has enrichened their lives it has hardly simplified it (but in complexity often lies  challenge, enjoyment and innovation).

So John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity (Great book; go buy. Great TED Talk, go watch), has a tough job on his hands as a lover of simplicity to make the case that technology is simplifying our lives after all. Interestingly, he didn't want to argue against the motion, which figures given his simplicity, but has had great fun in his opening statement. He's currently winning two-to-one, but as I have found out, the Economist vote lies in your hands... and your blogs.

Pic: The simplest telephone

Comments

[Robert Jones]

[RANT]
Ah - at last I read somebody using the word "around" in a sensible way :-)

Today I got an email that said "if you have any questions around [whatever] please contact..."

Around? Around? What's wrong with asking a question about something?
[/RANT]
I feel better for that. I really am a grumpy old man. Belated happy 30th by the way!

[Roland Harwood]

Hey thanks for the interesting links Ewan. I discovered John Maeda belatedly, exactly 1 week ago, and have become instantly converted to the playful combination of design, art and technology. Great to see him speaking at TED too. Re the debate, I enjoy both complexity and simplicity and don't want to be forced to choose.

[Arnon Hershkovitz]

Unfortunately, Maeda's TED show brings one of the oldest human misbehavior to the front, this is: complexing the simplest things. I hardly found the leading theme of the lecture, and if the main news in it was the one key to life - he shouldn't have waisted 16:10 mins from his (and our) life for bringing it.

From this insight, I go back to the Technology Makes Life Simple/Complex debate. My 5-Penny contribution will be that: if people want technology to make their life simple, they should CHOOSE which technology-based accessories to use for THEIR needs, but still keep those gadgets as SUPPORTEERS and not as subtituters.