Evangelism & Pragmatism June 4, 2008
Posted by nspb in : Training , trackback
photo: www.flickr.com/photos/coba/1825369
I’m naturally sceptical about most things - including new technology - so it came as a shock to be called an ‘evangelist’ recently. To me that conjures up an image of someone whose desperate attempts to persuade people to agree with their views just makes them sound like a nutter! So have I been brainwashed by the shiny new technologies, or are they really offering something different that’s worth evangelising about?
One of the (few) perks of my job as a trainer is being paid to play with new technologies so that I can help other people understand their potential. That often puts me in the position of trying to ‘convert’ people to users of technology. I like to think I give a balanced view, but recently I’ve found my self saying much more about the advantages and far less about the issues - so what’s changed?
Well, first the tools have just got better. By that, I mean the technologies freely available to any web user, not just those of us working in universities. My friends used to be jealous of the tools my institution provided, but now even my mum uses web tools that are every bit as powerful.
It’s also a lot easier to get started. You don’t need the support of an IT department to use Googlemail, Netvibes or Facebook. There’s no download, no installation and no financial cost. Together with improving interoperability that also means that picking the wrong technology has less consequences than it used to. Don’t like you’re free social bookmarking tool, then move to another freebie with a couple of clicks (as i did recently).
But what about the problems? Unlike my idea of an evangelist, I can still see problems with the technologies I preach about. For one, adopting any new technology is difficult, no matter how intuitive they are. I know people who doggedly stick with outdated technologies simply because they’ve got used to them. It’s amazing what people with put up with to avoid change. So in an age where new tools are appearing at an unprecedented rate, people can feel overwhelmed by the choice. It also means there’s the gap between early and late adopters is getting wider.
Another is that powerful tools can be dangerous in untrained hands. With new tools seemingly being so intuitive, many people understandably don’t think training is necessary. But without understanding some of the basics of how the web works, that can lead to problems. An example that springs to mind is friends wondering why it takes to long to upload photos from their digital SLRs to facebook. When I start talking about compression, they just start to glaze over.
Overall though, I think there are more dangers in not using new technologies than there are in using them. That’s why I think evangelism is also the pragmatic approach. So I’ll try not to t take offense next time someone calls me an evangelist!
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