In What Technology Wants, Kevin Kelly further explains the “money doesn’t buy happiness” cliche. He claims that “for the past 30 years the conventional wisdom has been that once a person achieves a minimal standard of living, more money does not bring more happiness” (78). However a study done at the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania defies this conventional wisdom and states that a higher income brings increased satisfaction. Kelly interprets this study as money doesn’t necessarily bring satisfaction, but more money means more choices. Humans find happiness in having control over their lives. If a person can afford the newest updated gadget, they will buy it. Even though new is not always better, and often comes with glitches, very few people ever go back to old technologies that still work perfectly fine. I think this is true to a degree. Humans always want the next best thing, but at the same time, we don’t always like change. Kelly also explains that there are two senses of inevitable. In the first sense, “an invention merely has to exist once” (176). In this sense all technology is inevitable because someone will eventually create it. In the second sense, it cannot just merely exist but “must contain a large-scale momentum and proceed on its own determination” (176). Things will be invented, but most will not work very well. Those that do work will be imagined many times before they actually come into existence. The picture phone, for example, was first sketched in 1887, working prototypes were created in 1938, and was sold commercially by AT&T in 1964. The phone was taken off the market after 10 years because not enough people were interested in it. Fast forward 60 years, the picture phone is back and incredibly popular. I agree with the idea of all technology being inevitable. Ideas will bounce around and may not always work, but there will always be new technological innovations. Why is it that we as humans are so inclined to have new, even when old works fine or better?
I think you raise a very interesting question Mikaela. The desire for us to seek the new even when the old is sufficient I think stems from our desire as humans to discover. By nature we are curious, and what better way to explore than by seeking out the latest technology. Technology has the power to give access to almost anything in the world right in the comfort of our hands. The access a new piece of technology provides coupled with the basic nature of human curiosity creates a very demanding consumer culture where we crave the new even when the old is still fine.
Following the end of WWII, with an increased number of people without jobs, new industries experienced extreme growth. As a result of increased consumer demand from not being able to demand anything during the war, the economic was booming with activity. With the Marshall Plan, the US sent millions of dollars in aid to foreign countries, maintaining its foreign markets. Additionally, the Cold War created a new market for a military-industrial complex to manufacture bombs and military supplies. With the booming economy, many Americans experienced a rise in consumerism. The intense consumer culture, basically starting from WWII, created a race for the next best thing. With this race came the intensification of the idea of consumerism as society as a whole became concerned with what the latest and greatest gadget was. As the American economy prospered and people amassed more and more wealth, people didn’t know what to spend their money on besides new gadgets. The desire for having the “best” and “newest” gadget created a competition within society. As the competition intensified, people wanted gadgets to make things go faster and speed up. This came with the rise in income as people’s opportunity costs of time increased. Therefore the cost it would take someone to spend one minute of time on a task would take away x amount of dollars from the time they could be spending making money. This created a rise in buying the fastest gadget in a world where time is more precious than money. Humans as a species have an innate desire for success. We want to be the best and have the best. We aren’t satisfied with being average. The desire for new gadgets comes from a primal urge inside us of coming out on top.