Technological inventions have always arisen from necessity…
As needs present themselves, solutions are found.
Mark Kulansky, Paper: Paging through History
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So, this morning, I pricked my finger and registered my blood sugar level, as I do every morning. I then entered the reading into an app on my iPhone. With a tap of an icon, I can e-mail my blood sugar history to myself, and/or my doctor — need met through modern technology.
As needs present themselves, solutions are found. From the book: technological inventions have always arisen from necessity.
I’ve just finished reading the prologue of this remarkable book my Mark Kulansky on Paper. I feel like a whole new world of learning has opened up. (I love it when a book does that for me). I’m sure many readers of this blog knew much of this… I did not. Oh, I had a vague awareness of the arrival of paper on planet earth, and the role it played. But, not enough awareness, as I have now discovered.
And, here’s a tidbit – you know “Moore’s Law” (technology doubles in capacity, shrinks in size, gets lower in cost…). Consider this paragraph from the book:
Paper is far less expensive that it used to be, but eighteenth century paper was of much better quality that nineteenth-century paper, which in turn was better than much of today’s paper.
One of the surprises coming from reading these pages is this: needs arise, and then technology is developed in pursuit of solutions to these needs.
Needs first; solutions second.
If you want to consider the impact to technology, if you would simply like a fun read, then let me encourage you to read this book. I’ll be reading the book in its entirety; it is a pleasant and substantive learning surprise!
First Friday Book Synopsis 