“This will finally force us to drive less, reduce demand and use more public transit” remarked a dear friend of mine. He was reacting to my statement that I had just paid $89 to fill-up my SAV. Everyone present who had worked in the oil, gas and energy industries quickly agreed with his opinion, while a few others expressed concern for the negative impact this high cost would have on many lives.
What’s most interesting, however, is that there was no need for any further discussion from those who saw the price increase as just another example of the demand-vs-supply principle in action while others felt the need to discuss this further mainly because lives of real people were being impacted. Soon the two groups were separately discussing solutions to the high cost of a gallon of gas but they had one thing in common. They all agreed that ‘technology’ was a big part of the solution while still disagreeing on what the end goal or purpose should be.
As I left the gathering, I happened to glance at the cars in the parking lot and noticed a hybrid owned by a supporter of the supply-vs-demand trade off and realized that the righteous debate could be bridged by focusing on technologies that made cars use gas more efficiently. This increase in efficiency would reduce both the demand and the effective cost per gallon. I have to remember to bring this up when we get together next.
This way of thinking about technology’s purpose appears to be universal. My model for it has become the coins we use as money. The ‘head’ and the ‘tail’ look in opposite directions but are held together by the edge with ridges (also know as reeds). Here is some of my thinking on how to focus technology on a purpose that solves a current problem:
- To reduce the price of a gallon of gas, let’s make gasoline usage more efficient through better engines, roads, tires etc
- To encourage the Myanmar government to be less insular, let’s find a way for the Burmese people to access the Internet from the legacy cell phones already in their possession
- To ease the global food crisis, let’s push for local agricultural self-sufficiency through fertilizer technology
What purpose do you recommend for technology?
