A few weeks ago, I wrote about the codification of innovation at Apple Inc. While examining the management hierarchies and creative clusters at work there, I began thinking about how one could visualize the larger web of technological influence stemming from a single corporation, or product. The latest iPad may be developed in a frenzy of behind-close-doors iteration, but its successes in the market and as a technological icon are ultimately dependent on a system of connections much larger than the one in which it was crafted. Slick advertising campaigns, generations of preceding and descendant products, and the effort of countless third-party software developers have all played an enormous part in ensuring the successful uptake and understanding of Apple’s product, for example. But above all of the Geniuses, engineers, and creatives at TBWAChiatDay there is another node in the system that exerts tremendous influence: the tech journalists.
In Kim Vicente’s book The Human Factor, the development of technological products and services is presented as a process often characterized by vicious combat between “wizards” and humanists. Many episodes from 20th century design and innovation are presented in the book as cases of wizards-gone-wild… savants running amok in nuclear power plants, planes, and hospitals with little consideration for the human side of design. But while the history of consumer technology is certainly spotted with examples of design-for-design’s-sake and dangerously complicated over-functional products, it is also the tale of a unique set of relationships between wizards and the rest of us.
Alongside growth in consumer technologies in the 20th century came the growth of accessible and decipherable technology writing. Popular Science magazine was first published 139 years ago, and popular scientific writing (or some form of content production) seems to have a bright future in spite of recent trends towards science by press conference.
Click for the full image at The Joy of Tech
Journalists like Walt Mossberg, Michael Arrington, and Leo Laporte are the old-guard of consumer technology journalism; working for decades alongside industries that have grown from insignificant to economically dominant, and challenging the value and detailed specifications of products released. An article by Alan Deustchman in May 2004′s issue of Wired looks at the life and times of Mossberg himself, calling him “The Kingmaker”. Complete with a chart of economic repercussions from Mossberg’s Personal Technology column, the piece contains some fascinating insights into the journalist’s philosophy and process. Mossberg’s ex-assistant even wrote his Master’s thesis at Georgetown about Walt’s influence on global innovation.
Of course, Mossberg steadfastly denies any “special relationships” with the titans of Silicon Valleys around the world. While he does bestow the king’s crown when it comes to consumer technology corporations, he also has journalistic scruples to account for. Perhaps his recent stern response to Shantanu Narayen was as much about steering Adobe in the right direction as demonstrating Mossberg’s ethics…
Any suggestions as to who – or what – constitutes the new guard of technological journalism are fiercely debated. Stuart Miles of Pocket-lint just started curating a list of “technology voices that matter” on the Say 100 site, and apparently the feedback has been incendiary enough to prompt a “We ALSO Love:” sub-list below the fold, and frequent reshuffling of the 10 finalists.
Humans aside, the formats associated with accessible science and technology writing are (as you might expect) receiving a bit of a makeover, as well. As new technological developments are released and integrated into mainstream culture at a faster and faster pace, new evolutions are taking place in terms of the frame of reference we establish for our technological prophets. Last month, the 8th Conference on Innovation Journalism took place at Stanford University.
The IJ logo reminds me a bit too much of a Light Cycle match...
David Nordfors, the founder of the conference, explains innovation journalism as the evolution of investigative writing on technology. Nordfors argues that as advanced information technology systems become ubiquitous, the standards and conventions that we use to evaluate and make sense of them must also expand. Siloed approaches to journalism that pump out narrow analyses of local news, business, and science, he argues, are less reputable and less enjoyable than approaches resulting in integrated reflections on what are actually surprisingly integrated products. Tom Foremski reflects on the IJ8 Conference over at ZDNet, and Nordfors has a PDF online of a paper he co-authored on the interplay of journalism and innovation.
To kick off the conference, the Stanford Centre for Innovation and Communication asked what the role of journalism was in a world with over 5 billion cellphones, 600 million Facebook accounts, and one billion Google search queries per day. As traditional journalistic media become less and less functional as gatekeepers of information, what becomes of their superhero icons, the $1,000,000-salaried celebrity humanists keeping an eye on the wizards?
Walt Mossberg has seemingly already begun to prepare for the crumbling of media steeples around him – he founded the All Things Digital online publication and conference with journalist Kara Swisher back in 2007. Chris Anderson, whose Sapling Foundation administers and curates the TED conferences, is also a journalistic ex-pat. Both TED and AllThingsD are brands that bring technological wizards (and business-minded humanists) direct to audiences around the world, lowering the latency on the newest and wildest intellectual signals. But in spite of their apparent passion for cutting out the middleman, Mossberg and Anderson have both written themselves into their events – the former interviewing Steve Jobs AND Bill Gates in a famous 2007 panel; the latter greeting and shaking the hand of every TED presenter.
Kinda makes you wonder what hangs about Steve & Bill's mantelpieces, huh?
Has dusk come to the era of these techno-journalistic prophets? Have we finally reached a point in the codification of innovation and evolution of technology where translators are simply no longer required? Will hordes of lead-users emerge on the web, hungry to articulate the value and design of totally new product categories, just as they’ve taken to reviewing the incremental updates from RIM and HTC that show up at your local Best Buy?
For all of the intellectual and creative decentralization that AllThingsD and TED bring to the table, they’re also shrewdly managed by those who have been closest to the pulse of the information technology revolution of the last few decades. Perhaps, although their power has been distributed slightly, these prophets of technology are with us for good. Journalists represent a social tool that enable us to richly contextualize our physical and informational surroundings. If we want to keep in touch with generations of innovation advancing faster than generations of human beings, perhaps we’d best carefully consider the value of technology journalists; and their unique ability to pass on the wisdom of the wizards, whilst poking holes in their magic.
Trevor Haldenby is an interactive producer and photographer living in Toronto. He has attended Wilfrid Laurier University, Rhode Island School of Design, CFC Media Lab, and is presently completing a Master’s of Design in Strategic Foresight & Innovation at OCAD University.