Nothing Is New

When was the last time you heard a new idea? In the case of technology there is little that is not, in some way, based upon an earlier invention. People often marvel as new electronic devices come on the market. What they fail to recognize is that there is nothing completely original. Most of these items amount to new ways to accomplish old tasks. What is newly created must be based upon old concepts.

Inventors can only produce that which already existed in some other form. They cannot help but start the process with a preexisting idea. In other words, no one can truly reinvent the wheel. We can only change it or make it better. Things become easier to use, more convenient or more attractive.

How about some examples? Take the cell phone for instance. They can access the Internet. Some have touch screens. The "bells and whistles" one may choose from are many and varied. But the device is still, first and foremost, a telephone. This is what Alexander Graham Bell invented in the late nineteenth century.

Computers are wondrous devices. We use them for communication, accounting and gaming. Every computer has an operating system. All data stored within the operating system are called files. Files have sub-folders. This method of organizing data is nothing to new to anyone who has ever worked in an office. This is the precise use and layout of a filing cabinet.

Is the modern automobile really that different from the first built by Henry Ford? Its basic functions have changed little from the first cars that came off the assembly line. Kitchen appliances such as stoves and refrigerators still meet the same basic needs as their early counterparts. Their efficiency and ease of use have been increased to be sure. Yet all that they really do is store and cook our food.

This is more than philosophical. The human mind cannot conceive of anything new unless it is based upon something familiar. In other words, nothings is truly new, it is only newer. Virtually all that we encounter in the world of technology is the natural evolution of what came before. I am not downplaying all the good that comes from better ideas. What I suggest we need is the proper perspective towards the world of tomorrow. Remember the old adage: What is old is new again!