Comments on: New Way to Think about Technology and Tools, Part 1 – Scene at the Airport

By: Warren

Warren — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:54:41 +0000

David,
Good points. Whenever I've run computer and internet classes for seniors (in a public library setting), their overwhelming motivation for attending classes is not 'to learn how to use a computer', rather they want to 'see pictures of my new grandchild' or 'write to my nephew who is travelling overseas'.
Warren

By: Chandra

Chandra — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:14:15 +0000

I think that it is of great importance for people who are in the field of education to make it a priority to familarize themselves with at least some of the new technologies that are simply waiting to be used.

By: davidleeking

davidleeking — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:06:25 +0000

Hi, Edo! I hadn’t thought about that angle, but you’re right. I certainly have fun with my iPhone… but it’s anything BUT a toy. Same with my laptop… same with most of the stuff my dept. uses every day!

Toys vs. necessities – two very different beasts!

By: Edo Postma

Edo Postma — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:36:44 +0000

How I hate it when people refer to my laptop or mobile phone as “a toy”. As if I have those things only for fun, to play with. Even my boss told me that he ordered a “extra good laptop” because I deserved it. He said to me “see it as a treat”. Duh… I’m a heavy user, it’s part of my life, I communicate with it, I do my work on it, I need it! I’t essential, it’s social and it’s my money maker. I have to beg the techdepartment to supply me with solid stuff, and not look for the cheapest hardware around. As long people see laptops, mobile phones, PDA’s as (geek-)toys for people with too much money, they’re not up to recognising these stuff as social tools.

By: davidleeking

davidleeking — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:57:01 +0000

Wow – comments are pretty split on this! I like what Shannon Paul said (see above comment) – great addition!

By: Brandon

Brandon — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:48:00 +0000

I’ll agree that the way people think about computers and the way people use computers has changed quite a bit from the late eighties/early nineties, when computers were still expensive machines you used at work or school for work and school tasks. However, I can’t say that this is a “huge shift,” or that the shift is worth getting all excited over. Using computers to network socially is nothing new (in fact, one could say that it all started with e-mail itself, and e-mail has been around quite some time). The shift has been gradual and spread out over a long period of time; it didn’t happen overnight.

It’s no different than when librarians, journalist, and other media people call video games “a new technology.” Video games have been around since the seventies; that’s four decades. They are not new, nor are they emerging. They are near-pinnacle in their development, as evidenced by the newest generation of consoles: the graphics are prettier, but the games haven’t changed that much.

Such is the same with computers and social networking. Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter didn’t happen overnight. Also, your statement, ” I’m not operating a machine anymore. I’m connecting with people,” bothers me. You are still operating a machine; that, coupled with the idea that the tasks you are doing are not so much “new” as “recently popularized” (even writing music and photo-editing) makes it really hard for me to get excited about this huge shift of which of you speak.

Never-the-less, computers are more prevalent now than they have ever been. That is something that we need to get accustomed to and to learn the new skill sets necessary to operate this technology. That much, I won’t argue.

By: Paula Thornton

Paula Thornton — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:39:28 +0000

Thanks for reinforcing what I’ve been SCREAMING about for years (and taking flack from colleagues/practitioners). We should not be designing for “users” — it makes the individual subject to the thing. It’s the wrong mental model.

By: Shannon Paul

Shannon Paul — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:57:34 +0000

Thanks so much for saying this, David. I feel much the same way.

I’m not a librarian, but I enjoy your blog very much. Actually, I work in public relations, and am way more connected than many people in my life. As a result I find myself often defending my choice to have constant (mobile) access to email and socialnetworking sites. Sometimes friends or family members will ask if I ever “take a break”. I tell them yes, and explain that working and playing may sometimes look the same to an outside observer that’s not be as engaged in social media.

It’s important to recognize that we aren’t tied to machines, but that the machines simply facilitate our connections and relationships with other human beings.

Thanks again for spelling out the difference!

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:44:49 +0000

I understand what you’re saying, David. It just seems tiresome to keep hearing about it. Maybe it would be better to discuss constructive ways that we use to deal with such people. I recently sent one to a conference and had her come back and share information from the conference with the rest of us. There are, however, some people who refuse to cooperate. Those people will eventually leave or retire. That’s what I mean by saying we should let them be. Didn’t the Library of Congress recently offer early retirement to librarians who would not cooperate with changes?

By: davidleeking

davidleeking — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:09:07 +0000

Frank – that’s not an option at my library, and I hope it’s not at yours, either. For example, we consider our website to be a branch library (we call it our digital branch). And everyone has to participate.

What would you do with reference staff who “only work the desk” and, say, refuse to do telephone reference? Or someone at circulation who “doesn’t check out videos?” That would be sorta silly, right? Or how about this – a patron goes to the desk and asks for help using an encyclopedia… and the librarian replies “I don’t know how to use that – I only use dictionaries.” Also silly.

Social tools are now part of libraries (in some libraries, anyway), like it or not. And if some staff can’t use them, in essence you have some staff that can’t navigate part of the library. Not a good thing, in my book.