WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS 'GOOD ENOUGH'?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 13:29:29 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>



WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS 'GOOD ENOUGH'?

Nicholas Carr raised the blood pressure of every high-tech magnate in
Silicon Valley last spring when he penned an article on the state of
information technology investment in the corporate world, titled "IT
Doesn't Matter." His argument goes like this: whereas corporate America has
for years bought into the notion that more is always better and that
technology innovations automatically deliver competitive advantage, that
mentality is changing. Carr says that the big innovations of the last
couple of decades won't be repeated, and that "the IT buildout is much
closer to its end than its beginning." Technology has now been
commoditized, like furniture and office supplies, and Carr urges companies
to abandon their first-mover mentality and spend less. That call resonated
with managers who are struggling with the downside of technology --
security and disaster recovery, which are major productivity drains,
according to a Forrester report. But on the flip side, demand for more
bells and whistles is soaring on the consumer side, fueled by an increase
in broadband penetration and new media-delivery systems. And while consumer
demand won't completely compensate for a downturn in corporate spending,
there's still hope that innovative thinkers will come up with a compelling
reason to upgrade. "Is our software so great now that it can't be radically
improved?" asks Mitch Kapor, founder of the Open Source Applications
Foundation. Meanwhile, analysts point to the advent of RFID technology and
the evolution of search technology as two innovations that may succeed in
kick-starting the tech business. (Newsweek/Washington Post 24 Nov 2003)

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53209-2003Nov17.html>

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