[WEB4LIB] "Generation shifts" and technology

[Lars Aronsson]

Sloan, Bernie wrote:
> Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure I buy into the "generation shift"
> concept entirely. The idea seems to revolve around each new human
> generation being more technologically adept, or integrating technology

I should clarify that I wasn't talking about human generations at all,
but of generations of technology replacing each other.  This should be
clear to all who read Clayton M. Christensen's book.

Some of you might have used 8 inch floppies in the 1970s and there
really was nothing wrong with them.  So how did 5.25 and 3.5 inch
floppies come to replace them?  The answer is of course the personal
computer revolution, where whole new categories of computer users
started their digital life with these new dimensions of storage media,
without ever reflecting on the superior "full size" alternatives.  
After a while, the huge sales volumes made prices fall and performance
increase for the smaller formats, but not for the old 8 inch floppies,
which instead went the way of the dinosaurs.

Technology generation shifts typically happen this way.  It's not like
someone says "look, I have invented a smaller floppy" and all the
mainframe and departmental minicomputer owners rush to change their
habits.  Those who were happy with the old (robust, professional)
solutions are the slowest to adapt to the new ones (the toys).

Wikipedia's popularity and growth can be understood in a similar way.  
Wikipedia's most dedicated fans have of course used traditional 20
volume encyclopedias, perhaps even owned one or two, but they are not
reference librarians who earn their living by navigating the
paperbound information space.  The active Wikipedia community is made
up primarily of those who look for free online resources.  And among 
free online resources, Wikipedia is already one of the best.

Once again, that is: Clayton M. Christensen, "The Innovator's
Dilemma", Harvard Business School Press, 1997, paperback from Harper
Business, 2000, ISBN: 0-06-662069-4


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se