Mobile Magazine has compiled a list of eight technologies (http://www.mobilemagazine.com/archives/2005/08/8_stupid_mobile_1.html) which, to put it in their words, "are so dumb that they slow the forward march of progress." And the winners are:


MP3 - there're better alternatives, but people stick to MP3 for compatibility
Bluetooth - security issues
Cell phone service - decrease in quality
Microsoft Windows - it's around everywhere yet lacks innovation and suffers from stability/security issues
Internal Combustion Engine - inefficient
Batteries - slow increase in battery life and still very toxic
Spam - no sigh of relief
QWERTY Keyboard - inefficient and unnatural

What's nice (and also sometimes not-so-nice) about us as a society is that we ultimately decide which technologies come and stay and which ones wither on the vine. For instance, the QWERTY keyboard is going to last forever. It's just too ubiquitous. Likewise with Microsoft Windows.

On the other hand, there are times when we as a people en masse vacate an inefficient method. I see people moving away from the Hummer class of SUV's and returning to the small, zippy great gas mileage cars of the late 1980's. Exorbitant gas prices will force consumers to vote towards better efficiency (and if that means smaller cars, then so be it.)

Certain evolutionary leaps, however, are predicated on whether the technology is ready to meet us when we're ready to evolve. The smarter companies have their pulse on the heartbeat of the consumer dollar and are actively trying to predit the "Next Big Thing". Other companies, unfortunately, try to milk the last dregs from the current technologies and try to lie to consumers that what's old is new again.

There are times when I wish I had super-money and I could create companies that were right there to give the people what they want right as they realized they want it. Alas, my abundant money making schemes are destined to fade into my distant memorys only to be drudged up again years later when some company is marketing my idea to a ready, willing and able public.

I really need to look into patents and trademarks. I feel like being rich someday.
POL9A