Is technology really "all that"?
Amongst the frenzy of financial headlines this week was a small story tucked away in the business pages of the BBC website. The 'home shopping' company Kleeneze had entered administration (link at end of article). Despite my passion for history, my LinkedIn feed is basically the public face of my commercial activities from charity work (please donate!) application development (please download!) to my views on crypto-currency (don't buy any!) given the stories that swamp my LinkedIn newscast I appear to be far from alone. We forget too often the human stories behind all these things. We may, if we are feeling magnanimous show pity for those whose jobs are now at risk, as many as 5000 in this case, but even that really doesn't even scratch the surface.
Like it or not companies form part of our culture, our memories - I am sure everyone can think of brands, jingles and products that help define their childhoods. Our way of life and our view of the world is shaped by this corporate world, the irony being of course is that companies spend their time trying to adapt themselves to the ever transient wishes of the consumer. We are thus a mirror for each other, their history is ours and ours is theirs. Companies will see winners and losers from technical change just as the population at large is doing, but at each marker on this road I feel its worth to stop and consider things a little. As is my habit I asked my mother what she felt of the Kleeneze story, as a retired politician she can be counted on for an opinion, and she definitely didn't let me down.
"Kleenze has its origins in the old pedlar trade. The Kleenzee man used to go from house to house with his case of goods. The workers in that other forgotten occupation, the housewife, would then make purchases and order for next time. The goods were good quality, better than in the shops. When I was little there were a number of people who did doorstep selling and they were welcomed. I can remember Jack D Hiley and his smartly painted cart with special sliding compartments which let his customers choose their own fruit & veg who called on the top road every Saturday afternoon. Another age! Kleenzee going brings to a close a method of trading which has lasted for centuries in England. Once so much a part of daily life it bows & quietly slips out of our lives for ever. We now do the same things but with entirely different means."
The last line really has me thinking. As I sit in my house awaiting another anonymous Amazon drop I cannot help but wonder if somewhere in our technical charge we are losing things whilst really only doing the same as has always been done. There is something personal, almost romantic about the man with his smartly painted cart. Technology is no doubt an ever increasing part of our lives and it is doubtless also that it enables efficiencies and increases in levels of consumption, but still I wonder if we are losing something along the way. Will my children talk about having to wait an entire 24 hours for an amazon drop with the same bewilderment that I have in imagining my own mum waiting for the horse and cart to arrive. That lack of interaction, the transactional nature of our lives worries me...technology is trying to answer that issue too however, and if I want an opinion on my latest purchase as I quietly sit in my house all I need to do is ask Alexa for she is here for all my questions! Somehow though it is not the same, some days I wish I could wait longer and see the man with his horse and cart....
...A raised glass to the staff at Kleeneze, all the very best at this difficult time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43746835