I just realised that the last time I wrote an actual letter, on actual pulped-and-dried tree, was a decade ago. And the last time I'll use my God-and-Jobs-forsaken iPhone 3G will be in October (I really, really hope). This despite the fact that both paper and iPhone were the most naturally obvious and impressive tools I had available at the time. So here's an idea: Even as technological fuckwittery continues to mug you with obnoxiously prescient ideas about how you should go about your general day-to-day, the transitions from our previous behaviour seem with hindsight to be as natural and inevitable as the morning after's kebab hangover. So wouldn't it be interesting to capture those shifts in behaviour individually and en-masse so that we can really reflect on how much has changed for us and about us, and use that same introspection to anticipate future changes?
I'd like to record the last rough date when you used any particular technology to accomplish something, from writing letters on paper to using academic textbooks and public phone booths and sandy egg timers. When was the last time you used a paper map to get yourself home? Then we could also imagine the point in the future that might be the last time you use a technology you rely on right now, or even a technology that doesn't exist yet!
If we can collect and plot over time many peoples' retrospections and projections (when will be the last time you used crowd-sourced statistics as a crystal ball?), I reckon we can reveal some very interesting trends, including the rise and decline of particular technologies, and (if we can collect a little more information) how technology adoption and perception is distributed amongst geographical and demographic boundaries.
Any offers to collaborate on setting up such a project?
