The Paradox of Technology

Jul 02, 2016

Is there an increasing disconnect between what technology is capable of doing and what the human brain (or at least many of them) is capable of?
We may not quite be in an age of driverless cars. But my car can parallel park by itself. And it can turn itself on and off to save fuel as I wait in a queue on the motorway. And I am sure that owners of many European marques will have features in their cars even smarter than that. But in spite of how smart many cars are, there seem to be even more people behind the wheels of said cars not smart enough to drive them competently.
 
And now we read of studies which prove that as many  as one in five people cannot tell the difference between left and right. Which is a real worry if you need to have a leg amputated or a tooth pulled and you strike one of the 1 in 5 surgeons.
 
We know how smart smartphones are. And the apps on them that tell us everything from how much money we have saved since we gave up smoking, to today’s temperature in Gdansk, Poland ( 16 degrees, with humidity of 87% ). But the problem becomes when people using smartphones are not smart enough to know that using a smartphone while driving is actually pretty dumb.
 
In our industry perhaps the biggest gap between human brainpower and technology is the delay in realisation that times have changed, and tenants and occupiers needs have changed. Just as Steve Jobs didn’t ask consumers what they wanted – he gave them solutions for needs they hardly knew they had – so too, we need to shape our product so that it provides solutions for occupiers needs.
 
Building occupiers in the main are businesses who are specialists in their particular fields. And that field is generally not real estate. Which means it falls to those of us in the industry to provide the solutions needed – not just show them what is available.
Ultimately this means we have to get smarter about proffering solutions for clients, not just offering properties.


Recently Posted