How steampunk can humanize gadgets

Ben sez, "In 'Being More Human,' an essay in the fall/winter issue of Oregon Humanities magazine, Intel futurist and technological optimist Brian David Johnson explains what steampunk has to do creating friendlier, more humanist gadgets."

Steampunk reveals three relationships that people want with their technology. First, they want their technology to have a sense of humor. Humor and jokes give us a way to connect with and understand each other. Also, humor is a great cultural indicator that we understand each other. Studies show that if I can make you laugh, you not only think I’m smarter but also feel a deeper human connection to me. If we want to have a closer relationship to these technologies that are filling our lives, it makes sense that we would want them to get our sense of humor and make us laugh.

Second, people want their technology to have a sense of history. History is the on-ramp to the future. Only by understanding where we have come from can we make sense of where we are going. It might surprise you to realize that a pocket watch is a lot like an iPhone. We carry both around in our pockets. Both give their owners an advantage over other people who may not have them. But there is one difference: a pocket watch was designed to be handed down from generation to generation. An iPhone is designed to be refreshed from generation to generation. For an increasing number of people this doesn’t work. They want their devices to have grounding in history, a connection to the past so we can have a clearer view of our future.

Finally, people want their technology to have a sense of humanity. They want their devices to understand them as individuals. If you sleep with your smartphone next to your bed you want it to know who you are when you wake up in the morning. As our devices become increasingly smarter and central to our lives, we want these devices to understand us as individuals, not as consumers.

Being More Human (Thanks, Ben!)

• [ZikZak]

  Are your customers getting bored with your pointless consumer goods?  Is your promise that more products will make their lives meaningful wearing thin?  Worried that people may stop buying entirely?

  You need Steampunk!  Don’t worry, it’s not the radical anti-establishment DIY movement you may have heard about, it’s the hottest new trend in the consumer gadget market!

  See also: Recuperation

• [Heevee Lister]

  “If you sleep with your smartphone next to your bed you want it to know who you are when you wake up in the morning.”  That’s one thing wrong with smartphones.  They know entirely too much about us.