Most people think modern societies are materialistic—we prize our possessions too much. But after working on a fun design-anthropology project on the co-evolution of medium and content, I realized we don’t appreciate our stuff enough!

Consider the timeline of inventions below and how they have affected the very thoughts humans have generated and the very content we humans produce:

Rock Carvings & Paintings – Myth, magic, events – The new desire to have meaning or communications last beyond the oral story. Originally accessible to anyone, but more and more it became a ritualized and segregated process.

Written Scrolls & Books – Myth, Religion, Law, History, and some literature (poetry, philosophy, etc.) – Content produced, protected, and distributed by the elite. Preservation and control of information ruled.

Printing Press – Bible in multiple languages, science, and more literature –Accessible, Affordable. Expansion of what topics were recorded.

The press forms as a formidable institution. The craft of writing itself evolves.

Camera, Telephone, Radio, Film – Voice, sound, images. Entertainment and the arts captured, recordable. – Reach! MASS Media! Information becomes even more affordable and entertainment becomes a more dominant part of human living. Each technology grows new industries, new wealth, and a new class.

Personal Computers, Laptops, and Mobile Devices – Anything is Content – Information is cheap, and people consume it more than ever. Anyone can be a consumer, a producer, a critic, and a distributor. A growing irreverence towards content produced by institutions (i.e. newspapers, government, corporations, etc.). Participation has exploded.

Then……..

The Future? – Unifying – Information everywhere, however, and whenever wanted. People will seek to establish or regain the ability to validate content. Will we evolve into the motivation economy? The only content that will sport a value or price will be the kind that motivates people to real world action and commerce.

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