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Chronological Snobbery in the Tech World

Andy Leonard wants us off his lawn:

Joking aside, chronological snobbery is a bias rarely discussed in technological circles. As a result, our (me included) tendency is to judge newer technology as better technology. Newer technology often sports cool new features, but it’s not entirely accurate to claim newer is always better. Forty-seven years in this field informs me this is not always the case; there is often some baby in the bathwater of the pervious generation of technology.

It’s more accurate to claim newer technology is often better for some applications.

It’s hard to draw that line between “new technology is better” and “old technology is venerable” appropriately. A lot of this is risk appetite, as we’ve known for decades (Crossing the Chasm is 30 years old, for example): some people will gravitate toward novel technologies faster than others. It’s hard for me to describe the tangled mess of beliefs I have around the topic, so I’ll just say to read Andy’s thoughts and maybe I’ll turn it into an episode of Shop Talk or something…

One Comment

  1. Andy Leonard
    Andy Leonard2022-05-10

    Thanks for your thoughts and the pingback, Kevin! I look forward to an episode of Shop Talk about this topic, good sir. :{>

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