#dConstruct - Stifling your inner control freak

Double-hander presentation from Bryan and Stephanie Rieger:

[](http://www.onemanandhisblog.com/archives/assets_c/2011/09/IMG_9225 - Version 2-2032.html)Printing brought us the idea that knowledge could be controlled, attributed, finished. And that lead to people wanting to claim and protect their ideas – hence patents. Processes allow us to duplicate what’ve learned. Once you can duplicate, then you can scale it, and then you can make money…

The power of the network online is more powerful than any individual, and so we’re starting to see the idea of ownership of an idea break down. Ideas self-replicate and grow. It takes on almost biological characteristics. Once something is out there, it leaves our control.

And now we have the net and social networks in out pockets at all time. This amplifies these effects – and accelerates change.

The balance of power is shifting. We can’t expect people to interact with our protects in linear, controlled ways. They no longer have to wait for us to create experiences. Instapaper and Flipboard take away your navigation and ads and give people a better reading experience.

[](http://www.onemanandhisblog.com/archives/assets_c/2011/09/IMG_9220 - Version 2-2035.html)It’s counter-intuitive to present people with incomplete, draft products, but people like to ability to adapt what you present. People are not homogenous, and don’t want homogenous products.

It takes time to figure out the social contexts and requirements around new technologies (took ages with the car). You go through periods of stability, rapid change, then a new period of stability. These used to be quite long. Now? Interlocking mini s-curves. Constant change. And the result is generation gaps. People only a few years apart in age are having very different experiences of technology.

The more complexity you build into a system, the more reliant you get on other actors in the ecosystem. Compare self-ground coffee and a French Press with Nespresso system. Simple can be better, because it gives you more ability to customise.

We are creating a new culture, new systems to adapt to a new age.