Life And Death Of Technology: 2022

Everything has a life cycle.

Bacteria, insects, people, civilizations, galaxies – all are born, live and pass into eternity eventually. So it goes with technologies. Some, like wheels and levers, simply evolve in an impressive millennia-long cycle. Others, like jet packs, never seem to find the popularity we expect. And many, like 8-track tapes, shine brightly (or not so brightly) for a moment and fade into obscurity.

I like to dedicate a column to this topic each year to remind us how fleeting the spotlight can be. Obsolescence is built into all of our tech, just as limited existence is the essential nature of people. 

For example, classic Blackberry devices will finally die this year. Remember the "Crackberry?" – a device so addictive and omnipresent that President Obama refused to part with his Blackberry despite the security risk. Blackberry had 80 Million users in 2012. Not so much anymore.