What's Wrong with Lock-In? Oh I Don't Know...Everything

The idea of "Lock-in" was discussed at length the other day in class and it took a while not only for the idea to sink into my slow-processing thoughts, but to also form an opinion of what Lanier believes to be true about modern society. Lanier defines Lock-in as a definitive, non-transcendental, idea that fits within a rigid set of confines. Very vague, I know. Lanier believes the idea of Lock-in is taking foothold and ruining certain facets of life, specifically how we interact with the internet and the limiting of options we have once engaged within the world wide web. He views social networking sites like Facebook and musical programs such as MIDI as the simplest, most rigid ideas that humans have conceptualized, and instead of innovating and exploring other options of communication/music programming, humanity has become satisfied with the present technologies. Lanier believes Lock-in drives complacency and the inability to utilize options when it comes to technology, which is where I personally think he's wrong.

Lock-in kind of flew over my head in class, granted many concepts do as my learning curve isn't quite up to par with many students, but after some reflection I want to criticize Lanier and his notion that people become complacent with the most simple, most feasible, and most finite of technologies at their disposal. I'd like to point out a major flaw in his argument: innovation. How does Lock-in succeed on the full-scale level that Lanier refers to when the internet/technology in general is constantly being innovated? My view of social networking began when MySpace and AIM chat were the forefront of my high school social life. People quickly became bored with these sites and then progressed to Facebook and Twitter, two sites that I still use today. Evolving (I hate using this term in this context as a biology major) to fit the needs and wants of society is the definition of innovation. And the notion that people have been "Locked-In" with whatever is most simplistic or accessible is just wrong. Why? Because people change, the world changes, needs change, and thus technology must adapt and evolve (urgh) to fit the bill, so to speak. Lock-in isn't simply just a paranoid theory to how people view and utilize technology, it's also unfounded and completely wrong, in my opinion. Never thought I'd see the day when I would use scientific terminology to describe the history of social networking sites....(side note: completely digging the dreads look Lanier has taken a custom to).