Products of the past

A story goes that a teacher arranged her young students into a circle. She then went around the circle and asked each one a question.

“Robert, what sound does a cow make?”

Robert replied, “It goes ‘moo.’”

“Albert, what sound does a cat make?”

Albert said, “It goes ‘meow.’”

“Oscar, what sound does a lamb make?”

Oscar said, “It goes ‘baaa.’”

“Noel, what sound does a mouse make?”

Noel paused, and said, “Uhh ... it goes ... ‘click…click!’”

This is the age of technology.

There was a time when mouse used to be a rodent and windows were fixtures inside your home. Today you have mouse, wireless mouse, mouse that operates with radio frequency, track pads is replacing the mice. Disruptive technology is here to stay. There was a time when it took a long time before a new product is accepted in the market place. Today the market eagerly awaits the launching of the next big thing in technology.

I was giving a seminar then and people began to smile, some were giggling and a lot more of them began laughing. I asked, “What’s going on?” One brave soul responded and said, “Francis, you said we need to read books and we need to listen to tapes. But nobody listens to tapes anymore.” “Oh boy,” I told myself, caught in a time warp. How could I have missed that?

After giving a talk, one lady approached me and said, “Francis I love your talk. Have you recorded it in a cassette?” “Cassette?” I half smiled but that’s exactly what happened to me. The only difference is that I said, “Tape.”

This makes me think. What has happened to the products of the past? The hits? The wonders? The breakthrough technology that made the world marveled? Products like:

 1. The video recorder? (Circa 1983) The one with the flashing 12:00? Never figured out what that function was for anyway.

 2. Brick (circa 1990) – I remember my first cell phone was a phone named ANTEL. Compare the size of that today to the newer ones my first cell phone was as small as my Coleman Water Jug. You charge the battery for eight hours and you get to use it for only two.

 3. Cloning (same time) – The biggest worry at that time was not virus but cloning in an Analog platform not digital.

 4. Let’s go back – way back. Remember phones had party-lines and you fight them all the time?

 5. What about Caller ID (circa 1995) – Staring at a number that came in and you shock the callers by knowing it was them.

And for those who first saw the light in a hospital after 1990, a quick fad then was called the DAT. DAT stands for Digital Audio Tape. Sony Corp. introduced this in the mid-1980’s. This replaced the old cassettes that really lasted many years.

And the CD’s came into the picture and is now losing ground to Ipods and MP3 players. A couple of years back I remember entering the last two days of Tower Record’s existence in America and everything in there was sold for just $2 and less. Today online music purchasing gains momentum everyday.

My son plays the drums for a popular band. He says that their first hit became a hit without a CD. It was placed on line and people here and even in places as far as Belgium and Germany listened to it.

Products of the past. I wonder why as I think about them the same products bring back memories of events tied to the same.

And what about future products?

I read about scientists and researchers developing the next generation paper battery. A supercharged battery that can be bent, rolled, twisted and cut to size like a piece of paper. It looks like the next great thing; a breakthrough technology which becomes today’s hit would in a short span of time quickly turn into tomorrow’s museum piece.

May I make a suggestion? Don’t be too much of a hurry in having to HAVE that new toy. You spend a great deal for it and then a few months later that “new” thing will be left with just the “thing” when the novelty of newness is gone. Just because you are using an old cell phone does not mean you’re second-class and old. It may mean you are frugal and practical.

Somebody says: “The world is getting complicated. Somebody just gave me a battery operated paperweight.” And you’re probably asking, “Paperweight? What’s that?”

Don’t let technology complicate your life. Live it simply but live it to the full; with or even without the latest technology. 

(Francis Kong’s new book “Duh!?” is now available in all leading bookstores nationwide.)