Such awkward situations rarely occur today. All the details of the rendezvous can safely be worked out, or changed, at the last minute via GPS tracking, texts, or even a phone call (if they are complicated). Prior to the last minute, general plans suffice. "I'll be finished work around 6. I'll give you a call and we can meet somewhere on King St."
This is often captured under the general virtue of convenience, but it is more exactly procrastination. We are able to put off the thinking, planning and commitment until we absolutely have to do it. As a result, we avoid most of it. The cost of arranging the activity is greatly reduced, and as a result we can, and do, take a more careless and opportunistic approach to it.
But mobile communication technologies aren't the only procrastination enabling innovations. Cars are another, much older one. The most romanticized feature of driving your own car is the ability to just jump in a go at to any place, to any time. Contrasted with mass transit systems (trains, planes, buses), which have fixed schedules and routes that need to be planned around, the potential a for procrastination provided by a car is enormous.
But, of course, this isn't really true of all successful technologies. Some technologies are successful because they allow us to do things we previously could not do at all. Water filled clay pots over a fire allowed us to boil cereals into porridge for the first time. Making porridge quickly and without planning would need to wait for Quick Oats and the microwave oven. Other technologies allow us to gain knowledge we just couldn't get before, as medical technologies allow us to determine the seriousness of an illness.
But even with those exceptions, I'm claiming that this is a useful guide for creating or identifying technologies that will succeed. If it allows for more procrastination it is likely a winner.
But mobile communication technologies aren't the only procrastination enabling innovations. Cars are another, much older one. The most romanticized feature of driving your own car is the ability to just jump in a go at to any place, to any time. Contrasted with mass transit systems (trains, planes, buses), which have fixed schedules and routes that need to be planned around, the potential a for procrastination provided by a car is enormous.
But, of course, this isn't really true of all successful technologies. Some technologies are successful because they allow us to do things we previously could not do at all. Water filled clay pots over a fire allowed us to boil cereals into porridge for the first time. Making porridge quickly and without planning would need to wait for Quick Oats and the microwave oven. Other technologies allow us to gain knowledge we just couldn't get before, as medical technologies allow us to determine the seriousness of an illness.
But even with those exceptions, I'm claiming that this is a useful guide for creating or identifying technologies that will succeed. If it allows for more procrastination it is likely a winner.
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