Earlier today, I was reading a highly regarded periodical which happened to address the subject of the future of the laptop, pc, Mac, Netbooks, and handhelds in general, and the perception of an inevitable march towards a continuous convergence to handheld devices for all of ones communication and computing needs.
Not that this is a radical new theory. I remember thinking something similar something like 15-20 years ago, and the landscape has shifted mightily many times during these years. Remember when some people thought fax machines would be the ever-present fixture in one’s home and office (I do, but I never believed it for a second).
The corporate “bloodshed” as these industries continue to converge, and as the technologies also become more powerful, will finally, i believe (easy to throw these things out when predicting anonymously) more consolidation than we have in previous years. To date, the effect has been mitigated by the enormous leaps in technological power and capabilities (Moore’s Law, etc.), and the corresponding software, hardware, and devices, including entertainment, which have had the market opportunity to fill these new needs. No doubt there will still be many applications of technologies that can, and in many cases have not even yet been, simply imagined as products of the future.
The core uses of these technologies of voice, data, and pictures will continue to converge, even as amazing new companies and technologies are born and are brought into fruition.
OK, so what does all of this have to do with clocks, much less grandfather clocks, or wall clocks, or desk or mantle clocks? Good question. The Story of The Clock, might be condensed from its history as being a beacon in the industrial revolution, helping to make order out of chaos and an important contribution to a Civil Society, and to a point such as in England where it was mandated by law that public clocks had to be visible in every pub and across any certain number of streets.
Nowadays, one can look at one’s iPhone, or TV, or Automobile, PC or Mac, and possibly even a wristwatch. Yet studies have shown that people with clocks on their desks still look at them 30-40 times a day! That says that a clock is more than a fashion or design accessory, but a useful dedicated device. Now old habits die hard, and it is hard to say what future generation will do and want. But it is clear that clocks as home decor accents and interior decorating for the home or office are hear to stay!
Grandfather clocks, mantel clocks, wall clocks – started out in a way as a necessity – and now are increasingly being relegated to office and home decor, and to those older fashioned among us whom have a hard time, or simply no desire, to part with conventions.
That’s today’s Story of the Clocks.