Crunch Gear posted, asking the question – “are we heading into an era of dumb tech”. At first I thought it was another one of these “is Google making us smarter/dumber erer” posts, but it turned out to be a look at the devices that instead of doing everything in one gadget, they are doing one niche thing and doing it well, after all the “all in ones” are a collection of compromises that likely lead to the development of the simple device in the first place.
I think they hit it pretty close to the mark (I’ve thought about this before), but I would hazard to suggest that they might have overlooked one thing – there are two major bins that the gadgets that they are talking about get thrown into and there are two types of users as well.
The first is the “So small a niche that really, it only has to do it’s thing well enough”. This is were things like the Eye-Fi would come in (though I’m thinking that they are going to come out with a 3G version of that and I’m praying for a CF form), where there isn’t something to really be compared to. The second bin is where I think the Peek finds itself. It will be compared to the iPhone and the Blackberry – and yes, it is doing the core function of the ‘berry cheaper, but if they wanted to stick to that function and be an alternative for those people who don’t really need more, why are they adding Google Maps? Now they are offering up competition to the iPod touch – which is not a bad thing – but at the same time, people are going to expect it to compete against an established device with more features. Not because it should, but because technology is available that it can.
These two niches are also influenced by those users who care enough to geek out about what the device does, and therefore will tolerate a more complicated device. Conversely, those users who don’t really care about the niche, but need to get something done related to it won’t want to deal with anything more complicated than pushing a button. In the end, the level to which tech will “dumb down to” will depend on the niche and the user. Users that don’t care about what the device does will want dumb and dumber devices, users who care will want smart and ever smarter devices. The good thing for those people wanting to make these devices is that both groups are strong and growing – it just depends on what you are selling.
The good news for schools in all this is that capable devices are getting cheaper and easier to use, allowing for a greater range of exploration by students and allowing the technology layer to drop away as being a factor in the qulaity of their work. Ideally, some students will take a greater interest in a given activity and then want to get into some of the “smarter” tools, allowing for even greater exploration.
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