Factions

Nintendo or Sega? Android or Iphone? Verizon or Optimum? While to the casual reader these questions sound like questions of opinion, these questions would cause rifts in communities and send send others into an existential quandary if asked in the right place. The simple fact of the matter is that people divide themselves into factions over the technologies they use, to the point of becoming die-hard advocates of their particular brand of equipment. What spurs people to become so attached to their technologies and why do these factions get into lengthy debates over which of their nearly-identical bundle of semiconductors is better?

It's almost fascinating that human beings would bicker over something so simple; their technologies don't differ all that much, so why are they so zealous about it? Is one kind of phone really so much more intuitive that people need to parade about with it in front of their peers? Does one video game company make games that are so much better than their competitor that fans need to shame their friends for sticking with that competitor? Does one Internet Service Provider give services that are so much better than any other that its customers are duty-bound to convert their coworkers to that service? The answer to all of these questions is no- in fact, it is much simpler. People see these technologies as a part of themselves.

As people use and get comfortable with a technology, they become entangled in it. Technology, in a way, makes them more powerful and, in a sense, becomes a part of the user- so when a user advocates a particular technology, they, in a sense, are advocating a part of themselves. Conversely, when a technology they use is criticized, they feel personally attacked. To some degree, this also explains why certain technologies have a very strong following: users believe that the newest model of the Iphone is, somehow, an upgrade to their lives. This is only further evidence that users are entangled in their technologies- they let the device, or in this case the providing company, control them.

For the time being, nothing can truly be done to merge these technological factions: it would be as hard as uniting all the peoples of the world under one set of ideologies. Instead, people will need to learn that they are only promoting something their rivals already have, and that by mindlessly advocating their technologies, they becomes the tools for their devices and the corporations that make them.