How Usain Bolt was caught at intersection of tech and human error
In the right hands, technology can inspire confidence, build excitement, defuse racial tensions or do just the opposite 鈥� it all depends on the capability and judgment of the device鈥檚 operator.
鈥淭echnology is a queer thing,鈥� comedian once said. 鈥淚t brings you great gifts on one hand and stabs you in the back on the other.鈥�
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt feeling the pain of becoming a meme after being swept off his feet by a poorly-piloted Segway; rapper Wiz Kalifa forcibly apprehended by US Customs officers at the airport for refusing to get off his 鈥渉over board"; or a drone shot out of the sky by an angry neighbor 鈥� these are all examples of human error making technology look bad.
While the Segway is not new technology, it is still finding its feet in different venues, like the World Track and Field Championships in Beijing. On Thursday, Mr. Bolt, the gold medal winner in the 100 meters at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, was taken to the ground by a mobile cameraman who lost control of his Segway. The cameraman and a barefoot Bolt ended up in a heap, but neither man was injured.
The incident, captured on Vine, quickly spread across social media platforms, blossoming into a viral meme Friday.
Also this week, rapper Wiz Kalifa railed against what he felt was an infringement of his tech rights after he tested the boundaries of technology and civil liberty by riding an , which he called a "hover board," in Los Angeles International Airport and got face planted by security in the process.
鈥淎ll because I didn't want to ditch the technology everyone will be using in the next 6 months. Do what you want kids,鈥� Mr. Kalifa tweeted.
The board, which is sold under the name 鈥�,鈥� isn鈥檛 so much a " hover board per se, as a sort of self-balancing Segway scooter without a handle bar that鈥檚 been shrunk to the size of a skateboard.
However, Beau Turner, founder of in Norfolk, Va., where people pay a monthly fee to use some of the latest technology in a workshop and prototyping center, says in an interview that with great technology comes great responsibility.
In the movie "Back to the Future," hover board rider Marty McFly plays a modern guitar solo that leave the 1950s audience wincing saying, "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet... But your kids are gonna love it."
In Mr. Turner鈥檚 estimation, it鈥檚 less of a case of waiting for the next generation to catch up to liking the technology, as it is about this one not acting like kids in a candy store.
鈥淭ech is an enabler, but it鈥檚 not a replacement for your brain. If you鈥檙e not using your brain, you鈥檙e going to get into trouble,鈥� Turner cautions. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 always Google something and understand it. It has to be coupled with common sense.鈥�
This is a sentiment as old as the earliest technology of which Henry David Thoreau said in the mid-1800s, "Men have become the tools of their tools." The more modern idea is to not be a tool while operating one.
Turner explains that part of the issues we see in the news concerning newer tech running afoul of the law and our fellow man may stem from the marketing. 鈥淧eople are trying all these different ways to use it [new technology] and find the market.鈥�
鈥淟ook at what happened to Wiz,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 some kind of an issue happening there because they don鈥檛 know where the new technology fits yet and so they鈥檙e trying it out in all these different areas in search of the audience. But at some point your brain has to kick-in. I mean when Wiz is being slammed to the ground, you know that鈥檚 [the airport security area鈥檚] not the place and the market.鈥�
Turner says the which allows users to live tweet video with a participating audience (like ) is a positive example of how 鈥減eople are trying all these different ways to use it and find the market.鈥�
This week, Palm Beach County, Fla., Sheriff Ric Bradshaw used the app to discuss a deputy-involved that occurred in a troubled neighborhood, leaving one suspect in critical condition.
The use of the app and the immediacy of communication it provided is being widely credited as having diffused a potential race-related crisis.
鈥淭he Palm Beach Sheriff is a good example of new technology in the hands of someone finding a practical application for public good," Turner says.
