Dear Editor,

So, we are doomed to be populated by a generation who will not understand how a mobile phone works. Frankly, so what. Explain to me why it is important to know and I’ll make it my duty to share that information with the population. Could it be that by understanding the minutiae of the device we become enlightened as to the beauty of science? Doubt it. What matters to people, especially young people, is what a device can do - how it benefits there life and enables them.

They all enjoy communicating and some even enjoy exploring their machines to find out what else it can do – Bluejacking, for example. Others still, seek to exploit the potential of what a device such as a modern phone can do in classrooms, public spaces, museums, or nightclubs. It doesn’t matter whether it’s phone, PDA, laptop, or Sony’s new PSP, there are three broad groups of people (at least): those who ignore a technology or use it minimally, those who seek to explore its functionality in any number of creative ways, and a minority who understand the device implicitly and push it beyond limits even the manufacturer could not have foreseen – the PSP homebrew community being an example.

When John Harrison made his revolutionary clock in the early 18th century, do we really believe the seafarers of the day demanded detailed blueprints and schematics of this new contraption, or did they simply think – phew, at last we can navigate. There has only ever been, and will only ever be, a relatively small group of people who feel the compulsion, the insatiable curiosity to understand how the world works, and for those who want to know, we should be there. But let’s not ignore the incredible power of exploring the limits of technological functionality – even in the absence of understanding how it works.

Ultimately, all technology is self-limiting, because we will either: create machines that develop technologies beyond human comprehension, or (as stated in Richard Ellam’s letter) reach a point where no one will be able to understand the technologies and take them forward, or we will destroy the planet. What we do with technology will always be more important than how it works.

Regards,

Barry Gibb, UCL Honorary Fellow and NESTA Crucible Alumni