Importance: 10%
The Big Idea
Sometime we can react to new technology or tools in two unhelpful ways:
- Avoidance: We can run away or avoid new tools because they are unfamiliar or seem hard to learn or use. Or we just are comfortable with the way we have gotten used to doing things.
- Blind Acceptance: We are quick to dump resources and time into a new shiny tool because it is marketed well or seems like an exciting up and coming tool. (Think Betamax or floppy disks).
In order to healthily engage with, learn and employ technology I have found a few important principles to keep in mind:
- Avoiding Vendor lock-in
- Be aware of tech churn. Always start with a plan of exit.
- Be aware of data storage format and reliability. don’t get stuff locked in a format that is impossible to get out of.
- Favor Open source for general tools and services.
- Favor Big name companies for security and data sensitive tools.