As new routines are embedded in technology, this obsolesces older technology. And, the key to future technological change and product enhancement is to anticipate what stream of routines will be successively mechanized over the next generations of commodities. But McLuhan warned that this was the most serious of the four effects that we would have to cope with. Even such admirable objectives as increasing efficiency, empowering employees, organizing effectively, and learning continuously, all have their limits. If we become compulsive about squeezing every enhancement out of every contrivance, the trade-offs will successively shift from benefits to detriments, regardless of our good intentions.
Virtual reality is no guarantee of virtuous reality.
The reason that so much technology ends up disappointing so many people, is that we still don't learn the reversal effect from our experience, and we continue repeating the same mistake time after time. The Jargon of Information Technology Both of these books represent contributions to one of the major sources of change in business, namely the promotion of commodities. Tom Buckholtz writes about optimizing and energizing, proficiency and efficiency, the information community and the learning organization. Don Tapscott has a list of 'Twelve Themes of the New Economy'. Knowledge is interesting, but hardly new - after all, that is what Adam Smith was offering with his analysis over 200 years ago.