Long term technologies, waiting in the background
Once in a while, there is a disaster. Phone lines go out, the Internet breaks down, and mobiles don't work0. Then the Ham Radio Operators save the day.
Amateur radio is one of those things I'm only vaguely aware of. It chugs along in the background unnoticed. It doesn't follow the fashion of today's industry, nor does it chase growth at all costs. It is an open standard, run by a decentralised group of people rather than a corporation, and it favours relentless practicality rather than KPIs.
I love technologies like this.
The recent stratospheric rise in popularity of the QR Code is a example of where these long-term technologies work well.
I've been banging on about QR codes for over a decade - while marketers sneered and tech companies tried to usurp, QR codes kept chugging away in the background. When the pandemic hit, and people needed a way to scan in to venues or present a vaccine certificate, QR codes were ready. They were an open standard, completely decentralised, relentlessly practical, and battle tested. They were rolled out in a variety of situations.
Every contender who has come at them with a proprietary barcode has failed. And because people have had a chance to get used to QR codes, they're not seen as weird any more.
They are boring magic. Decentralised and free.
The Fediverse is similar. It powers Mastodon and other social networks. At the moment, proprietary networks like Twitter are dying and new networks like BlueSky are in their ascendency. But BSky will eventually get bought out by cryptoloons, or will shit the bed in some other spectacular fashion.
The Fediverse will have been rumbling on the the background. Slowly gathering momentum. Waiting for an implosion or emergency.
There are various other technologies like this. Built in to the fabric of online society, quietly ploughing their own furrow, increasing resilience, despite being unfashionable.
What technologies do you think are waiting to be rediscovered in times of change?
- Sounds like fun! ↩︎
The End of MS Tag
Three years ago, I wrote about the deficiencies in Microsoft's Tag system. It was painfully obvious even then that MS had no desire to back the "standard" they'd tried to create.Terence Eden’s Blog