{"id":22319,"date":"2020-12-29T20:49:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T00:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=22319"},"modified":"2021-01-04T00:23:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T04:23:44","slug":"knowledge-of-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How does knowledge of technology change how we experience the world? Should design take our knowledge into account?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowledge of technology has a huge influence on the products we use and how we use them. When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/creating-a-product\/\">creating products<\/a>, knowledge of technology often comes into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about knowledge of technology and how it factors into design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Knowledge of Technology and The Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All this innovation raises questions about the future. With technology evolving at such a rapid pace, how will our relationship to it change? On one hand, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/humans-and-technology\/\">humans and technology<\/a> are more linked than ever. Artificial intelligence and advanced medical technology like pacemakers and bionic prosthetics are blurring the line between human and machine in a brand new way. Our cultures have also changed to reflect this new relationship and our knowledge of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, while people continue to evolve, our <em>needs<\/em> remain largely the same. We still need food, water, sleep, shelter, and social interaction, among other things. The changes in our technology affect how we meet those needs, but not the needs themselves. Phones have become smaller and now contain cameras, but the need to talk to one another from a distance and to record history in a visual way has not changed. Keyboards have evolved and may eventually be replaced entirely, but there will always be a need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/recording-information\/\">record information<\/a> in written form. <strong>In other words, human needs won\u2019t change, but the way they\u2019re satisfied will.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Do We Rely Too Much on Technology?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>With knowledge of technology becoming so integrated into our daily lives, are we becoming too dependent on it? Do our devices make us <em>more<\/em> capable, or less? These questions are not new\u2014even Socrates argued that the invention of books would decimate the human capacity for memory, discussion, and independent thought. But books have arguably made us <em>more<\/em> intelligent, not less. Not having to memorize every story or essay we encounter has made it possible for us to engage with more sources than ever before.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the same way, technological innovation has made it possible to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-automate-tasks\/\">automate tasks<\/a> that once took up huge amounts of time and energy\u2014resources that can now be applied to more than just the necessary activities for survival. <strong>Our intelligence hasn\u2019t changed, only the tasks we apply it to.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key is in using technology to do the jobs technology can and <em>should<\/em> do. This frees up time and effort for humans to do even bigger and better things than before. <strong>Relying on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/embrace-ai\/\">human skills<\/a> for part of a task and technology for another part is called <\/strong><strong><em>distributed cognition<\/em><\/strong><strong>, and the combination typically outperforms what either people or machines could do alone.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pitting human chess masters against computer opponents is a classic example of this effect. In a one to one competition, modern computer programs almost always win. But when a human player and the computer work as a team, they beat both human <em>and<\/em> computer opponents. This doesn\u2019t require the human team member to be a grandmaster (or the computer to be running the world\u2019s most advanced chess software) so long as they work effectively as a team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowledge of technology is an important part of the human experience that businesses and designers may take into account. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does knowledge of technology change how we experience the world? Should design take our knowledge into account? Knowledge of technology has a huge influence on the products we use and how we use them. When creating products, knowledge of technology often comes into play. Read more about knowledge of technology and how it factors into design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9,160],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-22319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","category-science","tag-the-design-of-everyday-things","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We have a vast knowledge of technology. This knowledge changes how designers create new objects, and how we interact with them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We have a vast knowledge of technology. This knowledge changes how designers create new objects, and how we interact with them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-30T00:49:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T04:23:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"956\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-30T00:49:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T04:23:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Design of Everyday Things\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Psychology\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\",\"name\":\"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-30T00:49:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T04:23:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"We have a vast knowledge of technology. This knowledge changes how designers create new objects, and how we interact with them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg\",\"width\":956,\"height\":562},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future - Shortform Books","description":"We have a vast knowledge of technology. This knowledge changes how designers create new objects, and how we interact with them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future","og_description":"We have a vast knowledge of technology. This knowledge changes how designers create new objects, and how we interact with them.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2020-12-30T00:49:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-04T04:23:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":956,"height":562,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future","datePublished":"2020-12-30T00:49:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-04T04:23:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/"},"wordCount":558,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg","keywords":["The Design of Everyday Things"],"articleSection":["Communication","Psychology","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/","name":"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-30T00:49:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-04T04:23:44+00:00","description":"We have a vast knowledge of technology. This knowledge changes how designers create new objects, and how we interact with them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg","width":956,"height":562},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/knowledge-of-technology\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Knowledge of Technology: Designing for the Future"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/start-with-why-sinek-apple.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22319"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22721,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22319\/revisions\/22721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}