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| Technology is wonderful. Except when it’s not. |
January 9, 2006 |
By Peter Wolchak
THIS ISSUE MARKS THE BEGINNING OF BACKBONE’S SIXTH YEAR OF PUBLISHING, AND IN AN INDUSTRY THAT IS ONLY SLIGHTLY LESS VOLATILE THAN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS, THAT IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.
It is also a good time to reflect on the technology industry. We do a fair bit of that in this issue, from a five-year review on page 32 to a preview of 2011 that starts on page 44. Plus the Backbone crew gets to hand out raspberries and garlands in our Love/Hate feature on page 12.
The result of all this reflection is a new appreciation of the fact that we all enjoy a relationship with technology that careens from affection all the way over to dislike.
This was underlined when we asked James Gosling for his opinion. Gosling is a Canadian and is generally referred to as the father of Java.
That’s a hugely significant sobriquet because Java revolutionized computing. It adds pizzazz to cellphone applications, runs the advanced features of cars, jazzes up Web sites, and exists in everything rom mobile and embedded devices up to enterprise servers.
Java is vital to the operation of today’s tech world, and it is therefore especially interesting that one of its progenitors sometimes just wants it all to go away.
“I love off switches,” Gosling wrote to Backbone.
“Life has become so connected that I’m never out of touch for more than a few moments. I’m the type of person who needs peace to think. To get my nerves unjangled. To smooth out the kinks in the brain. Off switches give me space.
“But the problem with off switches is that being connected to the rest of the world is addicting. Every time I reach for an off switch I remember the call I missed saying that my three year old daughter was in an ambulance and on her way to the emergency room. So I especially like the involuntary off switches — the dead zones in cellphone and Wi-Fi coverage, and rooms with no network jack — where I can have peace without guilt. It’s oddly comforting that tourist towns like Mendocino, Calif., can fight off cellphone coverage — and count that isolation as a boon to tourism.”
No one wants to go back to the days of quills and inkwells, but every once in a while it would feel so good to fling a cellphone out a window or deliver a solid thrashing to the person responsible for a user manual that almost but not quite completely fails to make sense.
That love/hate relationship we have with technology is why Backbone has been around for five years. While we are big proponents of technology for both business and personal use, we know the value of practical insight into making tech work.
And that’s what we try to provide.
“It was 20 years ago today,” the Beatles sang, and that’s a line we plan to use when writing about another anniversary in 15 years. Thanks for reading.
Coming next issue: The second annual Top 300. We are pleased that once again Backbone and the Branham Group are presenting the authoritative list of Canada’s movers and shakers and top tech performers. Our March issue will contain the Branham 300 rankings of this country’s standout companies and feature analysis of the industry. How does your favourite company rank on the Branham 300? You’ll find out in March.
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| Top 300 Issue |
 
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