Categories: Articles

It's Not About The Technology

Always remember: it’s not about the technology. It’s about access.

People worry too much about the technology. Forget about the technology (sorry to those of you in IT). Instead, think about the access that the Internet has brought to our world. Beyond that, think about how mobile and touch is now giving even more people access. This very short TED Talk (under 6 minutes) demonstrates what happens when you use technology not to replicate an experience, but to supplement it (as Amit Sood – the head of Art Project at Google says) and to make it accessible to anyone, everywhere regardless of socio-economic class.

It’s not what you think.

Too many people today think that technology is about how many friends and followers you have. It’s not. Technology is (and will always be) about imagination, creativity and inspiration. Think about what this one project from Google may do to inspire the next generation of innovators. Think about what it means when you can access and have an experience like this, anywhere in the world.

It is inspiring.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.