If you’re ever in Terminal D of LaGuardia airport, stop by the Au Bon Pain near gate 8. There is a self-service check-in kiosk right next to it, even though everyone in that area is already checked-in, ticketed, and screened.
We are frequently blinded by technology, and view it as an end instead of a means. But the value of technology isn’t inherent; it comes from accurate application that successfully addresses a need. That check-in kiosk could save millions of minutes and dollars for airlines and consumers, but it is absolutely useless where it is now. Technological functionality is different than the function of technology. The potential capacity of technology as a product doesn’t always correlate to the actual capacity of technology to help your business or your customers; someone has to shape its capacity and value.
