2013 Issue

41 To paraphrase a recent Newsweek article by Niall Ferguson, the communications revolution we’re experiencing has two major drivers. The first is Moore’s law, first proposed by Gordon E. Moore in 1965, that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months. This exponential trend has continued for half a century, and some techies expect it to continue another 5 to 10 years. T he other driver is the exploding growth of human networks. In 2006, people sent 50 billion emails; last year it was 300 billion. We began using the Internet in the early ‘80s. Twenty years later, about one percent of two-way com- munication went through it; by 2000, it was 51 percent. Now it’s about 97 percent. My point is this: increase in speed, quantity and variety of com- munication offers many new possibilities; but it doesn’t obviate the need for relationship building. And, it definitely increases the potential for misunderstanding. Let’s go back to the basics of communication for a moment, and distinguish between one-way and two-way communication. Simply stated, one-way communication is not communication. Remember the question: if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, is there still sound? Two-way communication involves a sender and a receiver, with the two-way loop being closedwhen the receiver tells the sender, “Yes, message received and understood.” And to take it one step further, the receiver might say, “Just so I re- ally understand your message, let me paraphrase what you said…” Think of the telegraph as compared to the telephone. I earned my BSME in ’65, the same year Moore proposed his law, and have seen many changes in business communications. In my first job, we typed messages on a Telex machine that used inch wide punched tapes that were then fed through the device that dialed a similar device in another city, where out came the mes- sage. It was great for requesting ship dates, etc., but certainly was not easy to use. We also had the first Xerox desktop copier, the model 813. It meant that we no longer had to write our orders us- ing carbon paper! Now, almost a half century later, I’m an early adapter of new tech- nology, composing this on my MacBook Air. However, the speed When Moore may be Less… When Moore May be less | continued on page 42 By Lyn Felton By Barry Campbell