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Technology as Magicveryard projects > technology > magic |
magic | quotes | on this page |
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The resemblance between technology and magic has been
remarked by a number of writers, and provides a series of running jokes
in the Harry Potter books. (Wizards cannot cope with the telephone, but
communicate instead using owls and fireplaces.)
For those who believe in technology as some kind of magic, the business benefits or social evils of a new techology appear as soon as a new device is plugged in. The box in the corner of your office will magically cause your markets and profits to multiply, your customers to be eager and loyal, your employees to be happy and productive, your suppliers to be efficient and cheap, and your competitors to vanish in a puff of smoke. |
Arthur C Clarke (I think it was) said that any sufficiently
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
"The feathering of the arrow, which ensured the accuracy of the weapon, was possibly due to a purely magical identification of the arrow with the wings of a living bird. This is one of those cases in which magical thinking often misled men further by sometimes actually paying off." Lewis Mumford, Myth of the Machine p 115 |
Requirements for Magical Solutions |
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Requirements for Magical Solutionsveryard projects > technology > magic > magical solutions |
Requirements engineering is a process affecting stakeholders themselves
as well as their stakes. The requirements owner may be transformed:
from a 'naive' client who articulates an infinite (imaginary, fantasy)
demand for a magic solution, into a 'mature' client who articulates a moderated
(symbolic, formal) desire for a realistic solution.
We use the term Demanding Solutions to refer to the cyclical dialectic process in which magical solutions generate new frustrations and new demands. The Z-model represents the possibility of escape from this cycle. |
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Demanding Solutions |
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Polarizationveryard projects > technology > magic > polarization |
This polarization is well illustrated by the debate about genetic
engineering / biotechnology.
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Thinking Superstition
Understanding Resistance |
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Silver Bulletsveryard projects > technology > magic > silver bullets |
Many gurus have scoffed at the 'silver bullet', but then fall into the trap of providing their own solutions.
In gender terms, the silver bullet has strong masculine associations
- technology as protector, technology as order.
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Examplesveryard projects > technology > magic > examples |
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veryard projects > technology > magic |
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