Quotes from John Thackara

Service design is about arranging things so that people who need things done are connected to other people and equipment that get things done-on an as- and when-needed basis. The technical term, which comes from the logistics industry, is "dynamic resource allocation in real time.

Copernicus took us out of the centre of the solar system; we now need to take ourselves out of the centre of the biosphere."52

Thank haven, literally, for the moon," says the economist Susan George. "If it weren't there, supplying the gravity to slow down the earth's rotation, our days would last only about four hours, with constant gale-force winds. Nature doesn't work on the principle that faster is better". Industrial society, unfortunately, does work on that principle. As a consequence, it weighs heavily upon nature.

We've built a technology-focused society that is remarkable on means, but hazy about ends. It's no longer clear to which question all this stuff - tech - is an answer, or what value it adds to our lives.