MR. BELL SEZ ...

Futurists, from Al Gore to Google’s Larry Page, see a world filled with multiple robots and complex automated “things,” ready to do our bidding at the touch of an app.

Many are here right now:  Kitchens that talk.  Fitness monitors limiting TV time if wearers don’t meet fitness goals.  Driverless cars and un-peopled fulfillment warehouses.   Robotic surgery and microprocessor plants.

Soon after IBM’s Watson won Jeopardy in 2011, words started flying.  Will “they” replace “us”?  How many will be unemployed after the automatons take over?  Need we fear for our long-term livelihoods?

Truth?  A few of these worries might be valid. 

Remember, though, what these technological innovations are intended to do:  Replace simple and repetitive activities.  They can’t make decisions (Watson, to the contrary).  Nor can they perform complex and dynamic projects (though technology greatly aids us in analysis and scenario building).

Which brings us to our point:  Yes, there is a slight risk for communicators, marketers, designers, change agents, and brand gurus.  The risk:  Not keeping up with the Gores of this world.  Sure, computers can’t write … yet.  [One did act as the late Roger Ebert’s voice when he lost his speaking function.   But couldn’t substitute for his elegant prose and generous mind.]  But if we can’t understand the latest and greatest of trends, automated and otherwise, if we don’t commit to always-on continual learning, yeah, Watson could put us out of business.  No matter what we might think, personally, of all the technology wars or social media or networking or sustainability or [you fill in the blank], it’s our responsibility to be more than aware of what’s going on around us.  To practice and get even better at our profession.  And to share what we know about machines and their impact with our clients, our bosses, our companies, and our customers.

Watson, I want to see you.  Now.

TECHNOLOGY IS MY FRIEND ... ?

We sit.  We think.  We read email.  We type notes and replies (but rarely, if ever, reply to all). We delete. 

Soon, scientist-inventors tell us, the 100 million Americans who regularly eye screens and finger keyboards may not only dispense with the never-ending in-box struggle but also with the hardware that allows us to respond. That is, the mouse.

In a sense, our touch-smart phones already do that.  As does Kinect software from our buddies in Washington State as it recognizes our movements.  In a few years (or months, given the light speed of tech innovation), we’ll completely delete both the stand-alone and built-in PC/Mac mice.  Instead, gestures will communicate our meanings and our responses over the screens.

The question is:  How will arm and leg and head movements convey the sometimes subtle notions we’re trying to demonstrate?  Will sarcasm, for instance, be shown as a facial tic?  The oh-so-diplomatic replies, delivered with a straight no-nonsense face and little movement?  Broad humor, for sure, might be a grimace and slap on the knees; a heartfelt sentiment could be captured with a simple hand over heart.  Quite frankly, we don’t welcome those changes

On the other hand, AOL, the originator of “you’ve got mail,” has developed an amazingly simple (and visual) email system that we’re ready to adopt … like now.  Folders are shown pictorially as rows of picture tiles, on the right hand side; recipients can customize them as needed.  The left is reserved for a stream of incoming mail, automatically sorted into those tiles (or stacks); the middle, filled with icons for all the operations of email (respond, reply, new email et al.). Alto from AOL is now in beta; for those of us who live in visual worlds, whether designers or marketers or communicators, it’s a true gift.

Have we answered the implied question in our headline?  To us, it’s “sometimes.”

IT'S BOOM CITY, HERE

We’re fascinated by tech statistics – combined with, of course, very human stories.

The latest?  For the past year or so, a number of reputable firms, through various research studies, announced that the boomer generation is a rather significant middle-of-the-road adopter of technology.  From Blackberries to Internet surfing, we boomers account for 40 percent of the spend (though we’re 25 percent of the population).

What’s more, we text, use search engines, check online ratings, answer email, and, in general, practice all of the e-activities commonly associated with younger generations, whether you call them Xs or millennials or Ys.  And speaking for ourselves, we’ve developed quite a CrackBerry (substitute:  iPhone) habit, almost obsessively looking at our smartphones to determine the latest news  – and who needs us.

There it is:  The humanity of technology.  There’s an overwhelming desire to not only be informed but also to be included in work and life goings-on, regardless of age or career situation.  Even our moms, well into their 70s, 80s, and 90s, educated themselves – or via the local public library – on what this computer stuff was all about.  [They then bragged to their friends that they’d met the Internet – and it was theirs. It was a completely different story when they physically encountered screen and mouse.  That’s another story for another day.] 

That need for inclusion, a Maslov-ian desire, underlies our technology use.  There’s no way, for a group so dedicated to changing America, that boomers would not master YouTube, social networking, and the latest gadgets.  At the same time, that discipline is softened by a commitment to ourselves and the world.  It’s our DNA.  And it’s a dominant gene, one for marketers, sales people, communicators to remember.  Everywhere.  Every time.