A Friday thought….’ A Smoking Chimp or a Roof over your head?
It has been a tough week/year for many of those in the tech industry.
Between layoffs across the globe, Twitter’s mid-life crisis,
the NFT debunk, and the ongoing Cryptocrash. Many wannabe ‘Unicorns’ now resemble lame cart horses. Who would have thought a digital image of a smoking chimp didn’t store much value!!
Despite the ‘fail fast and often’ mantra of many worshipped tech leaders, the reality is that jobs have been lost, and investments/wealth evaporated. Unlike our NFT chimp friend, the effects and experiences are real!!
We shouldn’t gloat at the tech comeuppance, as many young people now face an uncertain future when only a few weeks ago the world
was at their feet. The question everyone is now asking, is whether the past few months represent a mere correction, or is it a major inflection point for an industry that in many people’s minds had simply lost the run of itself.
Now before you label me as an anti-tech Luddite, I am not. Far from it. For all the bad in the tech world, we now inhabit, there is so much brilliance that has unquestionably added value to our lives.
We do need to consider, however, that for all the state and institutional investment, Gen Z knowledge/talent, and personal
expenditure that has been thrown at the tech industry over the past decade, we are still living with ‘real needs’ crises in areas such as housing, healthcare and education.
In both Ireland and the UK there is constant unrest among
workers in our critical sectors (health, education, public services).
At the same time graduates in tech companies are getting eye-watering starter salaries to in many cases do little else but think of more creative and addictive ways for us to view adverts on our mobile devices!? At the end of the day that is ultimately the business, they are in. Selling ads!!
The question I am posing is whether we have lost sight of what a society and its people really need, and therefor how we should apply our resources accordingly. And is the recent Digital correction an opportunity for redress?
If it is, let’s start redirecting and incentivising our resources and talent toward the sectors we really need. At the end of the day what do you value more? A roof over your head and a teacher/nurse for your child. Or a worthless smoking chimp!!
Have a great weekend.
Dick