This week an old and reliable friend finally got to the end of its useful life. It was a pen that I had and kept working from the 2002 NBA Technology Summit, the invite-only event the league has with disruptors, big thinkers, and leadership every year during All-Star Weekend. I had never realized until the ink ran out and the top of the piece that opened it broke off and jammed how old the pen was…whoever made it should be given more than a gold star for longevity, but my guess is the designer was probably chastised for making something so durable in a disposable era.
The pen made me think for a few minutes about then and now and all that we have changed, adapted and accepted in the moment, and how fast things move into here today, gone tomorrow. It came up even more so in my Fordham class Monday night, when our two guests, the husband and wife duo of DJ Sixsmith and Kayla Lombardo…both Fordham grads…DJ now helping carve the path of digital and social engagement for the NY Post, Kayla, a first-adopter in social media and storytelling when she was on the Atlantic 10 Champion Fordham softball team back in the day and is now at a startup venture catering to the growing sport of softball…started to talk about influence and growth strategy today.
They mentioned the prominent use of Vine, as a hot property when their careers were growing, which was met with blank stares by most of the students in the class. Yet Vine was only a few years ago, an early use on Twitter of short form video that came and went because the business wasn’t clearly defined just like Clubhouse and many others here and gone.
So back to the pen. Rather than try and guess what would have been discussed at the 2002 Tech Summit, I did what we are doing more of, used our growing tool, AI, for an answer as to what was hot and growing in 2002, as my pen came to life:
Podcasting Emerges:
2002 saw the beginnings of podcasting, with early audio blogs and programs being distributed online.
MySpace Gains Popularity:
MySpace, a social networking site, began to gain traction, eventually becoming a major platform for artists and individuals to connect.
Broadband Internet Growth:
Broadband internet access continued to expand, making it easier for people to access online content and services.
DVDs Become Mainstream:
DVDs became increasingly popular as a format for movies and television shows, replacing VHS tapes.
Early Social Media:
While Facebook was still a few years away, early social media platforms like MySpace and Friendster were gaining traction, allowing people to connect and share information online.
Mobile Phones with Cameras:
Mobile phones with built-in cameras started to become more common, allowing people to take photos on the go.
Music Streaming Services Begin:
Early forms of music streaming services began to emerge, although they were not as widespread as they are today.
There was also the release of the first Xbox Live service, the launch of the Tor anonymity network, the introduction of the Danger Hiptop (a smartphone with instant messaging), and the development of the Earth Simulator, a supercomputer capable of over 35 trillion calculations per second.
My thoughts were more towards the loss of dial up, the coolness of this coming technology called Blackberry, and would Kobe’s homecoming to Philadelphia make an impact (he was the MVP of the game, which was televised on NBC who was the league broadcast partner then…some things do come back, with that broadcast deal now returning next season lol).
My other thought as DJ and Kayla spoke was that no one in the class was alive in 2002. While it is not always great to get caught up in the past, it is important as curious learners to keep adapting and synthesizing what we have learned, good and bad, loss and win, with what is important and relevant today. That’s how we grow, we don’t forget, and we keep moving things forward. While I haven’t attended or been invited to attend the Tech Summit in quite some time, my guess is the messages aren’t really that different, the means and the medium and the reach are, and that’s a good thing.
So, keep evolving, learning, reflecting and seeing what’s next, without losing sight of where we have been The pen had a great run, now I need to find one to replace it.
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