Yesterday I posted about a book that makes the striking argument that we over-emphasize the role of innovation when we talk about technological evolution, and “downplay the long and winding road of adoption, imitation, diffusion, improvement, recycling and hybridization.”
If you’re interested in seeing example after example of those six activities with regard to technology — and old tech in particular — check out one of my favorite blogs, Street Use, where Kevin Kelly features the way people really use technology around the world, particularly those who are forced to improvise solutions to problems that people in the pampered first world barely think about. Some of my favorite recent posts: wooden bicycles, Improvisation in Thailand, an improvised sink-mounted water heater from Poland, and some kind of homemade vehicle from China.
