"Technology is not nature, but man. It is not about tools; it's about how man thinks."
It's fascinating to me to hear Peter Drucker's insight into the nature of technology. Some may disagree with his comment, but if you look at what's happening in the Internet world today, technology is truly changing as man continues to express his world view.
Someone may even say that technology is completely about tools. I think they'd be wrong. What Drucker is saying is tools are the consequence of the nature of mankind, and they emerge in response to how mankind changes.
That's why he says technology and man are basically the same, in that how man changes is how technology responds. The result is a tool, but a tool based on how man is thinking at the time.
So because technology is an expression of man, it will directly reflect the changes going on inside of people. What's interesting, is what we call the early adopters are in reality the people initiating the change, even if they aren't aware of it.
Man, technology and tools, they are one in that they express the inner workings or desires within a people. As a result, those embracing the new technology or tools are in effect being changed by those who have seen it first and generated the change.
What's also instructive, is when the general population responds to the early adopters, they also change the technology, as they aren't interested in the depth of interaction and complexity the early adopters enjoy. In essence, the mainstream also become people who change things, by forcing companies through their human desires to adapt to their more general interests and ease of use.
This is a pattern that will go on and on. You've got people that are seeing something and technology emerging in response to what they see and want. Then you have the general population following behind them, while companies then adapt to the changing desires of what those people want.
Understand that pattern and you can have a solid handle on where your business is at and how to cater to the market you serve.
A general rule of thumb, is early adopters like the tinkering and complexity of the new technology, while the larger, general population wants ease of use. Our job is to know when the early adopter stage is over and the general population is starting to get involved.
Other Peter Drucker Resources:
The Man Who Invented Management
Beyond the Information Revolution
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