Bijan Sabet

Fear of new technology

I was talking to a friend yesterday after the sad and horrible airbnb story broke.

My friend commented at the time, “I would never make my home available on airbnb and I’m not sure I would ever use airbnb”

First let me make it clear: I am not an investor in the company and I am not personal friends with management. I think they handled the sad incident very well and most definitely it will improve their service and customer needs better.

But back to my friends comment.

It seems to me that you can point to every new technology and point to the posssible dangers. The automobile. The airplane. The mobile phone. The list goes on.

I recall how some politicians went after craigslist and some folks saying you should never meet someone you connect with on craigslist. Why don’t those same folks scream about listing an ad in the local newspaper from days gone by.

Or others have said using your social network to disclose your activities could lead someone to break into your house.

To me, all of this needs perspective and some common sense.

New technology and our connected web has made our lives better. Individually and in aggregate.

Yes. There will be bad apples everywhere. Bad apples live in analog and digital worlds.

But I’m optimistic that as technology gets better and we are become more connected, our lives will continue to get better and safer. Not the other way around.