On our ever-evolving relationship with technology: The Ledger

On our ever-evolving relationship with technology: The Ledger Aesop

From avid embrace to dreams of evasion, in literature, art, science and beyond.

The Ledger: April 2018

It can be easy to forget, amid frantic proclamations of tech-world innovation, that some of the most beautiful, delightful and profound technology we’ll see is nearly invisible for being already in our midst, part of our everyday lives. The ‘wheels’ we don’t think to reinvent—the fountain pen, for instance, and the mechanical wristwatch. A basic coffee mug. Rubber bands. Elasticised socks. Red lipstick. Sourdough. Bound printed text. Sure, electric toothbrushes are finally becoming more discreet, and engineers are always finding ways to more smoothly sync the Cloud, but it’s the tried and true we tend to take for granted.

‘Amara’s Law warns us of the long-established hype cycle of emerging technologies: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”’

READ APRIL’S EDITION

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A dystopian Japan conjured in pithy, playful strokes

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Illustrations by Jeffrey Cheung

‘Everything has its cunningly devised implements, its preestablished apparatus…’ Thomas Carlyle

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