Jack Dorsey On 'Charlie Rose': The Best Tech Disappears

As the co-founder and chairman of Twitter and founder and CEO of Square, Jack Dorsey is obviously well-versed in tech success: Both of his businesses ended up on Fast Company's recent list of the world's top 50 most innovative companies.

But, for Dorsey, whom TIME dubbed "the next Steve Jobs," the best kind of tech isn't social networks or service apps. No, the best kind of tech, he says, it's the sort that disappears completely.

"I think the best technologies -- and Twitter is included in this -- disappear," he told Charlie Rose in a recent interview. "They fade into the background, and they're relevant when you want to use them, and they get out of the way when you don't."

Dorsey's latest venture, Square, is a credit card-reading service that is starting to adopt this kind of technological simplicity. Square's free Pay With Square app allows people to pay for purchases at stores using the service without having to pull out their wallet or phone -- all they have to do is say their name at the register. At present, Square is processing $5 billion in annual payments, up from $4 billion just last month.

Dorsey believes this next step for tech lies in the concept of the push notification, which sends information only when relevant or interesting and doesn't require one to have an app or site open at all times. Without tech in the way, we can get back to the basics, says Dorsey.

"I believe that the best technology...always reminds us of our humanness, that we already have everything we need," he explained to Rose. "You see this with the history of computing. I mean, we started with these big computers in massive rooms...and then they could fit on a desk. And then we had these abstractions of the mouse and the keyboard...but now we’re just using our fingers. We’re using what we already have. And we’re using it to interact with data. And I think the next move of that is the technology disappears from our sight completely."

What do you think of Dorsey's concept of invisible tech? Let us know in the comments below! But before you do, flip through the slideshow to check out the most influential young leaders in tech, as ranked by PeekYou.

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Comments

[Daniel Cool]

10:36 AM on 05/07/2012

My startup (http://iflotech.tumblr.com/) is based on the single viewpoint that technology should be like water - it is invisible yet ubiquitous, it changes its form and functions according to our needs - like how water changes its shape according to the shape of container.

[RyeGuyHead]

03:26 PM on 04/30/2012

I wanna go camping...

There's an app for that?! NOOOOO

[mjredder]

01:07 PM on 04/30/2012

I love the idea of technology that moves beyond the hardware wars and patent nonsense currently plaguing the smartphone and tablet markets.

[Flight]

11:25 AM on 04/28/2012

If I had one chance to choose to sit down and talk with Dorsey or Z-berg, I'd choose Dorsey. The things I've seen and read about him makes me appreciate where he comes from and how he made it. Apple probably should have taken a long hard look at him as being the 'next Jobs' though that would be stretch for anyone, but I believe Dorsey would give Steve his due and then some.

[authorized-user]

09:48 AM on 04/28/2012

This will be difficult as the tech world usually ends up being co opted by marketers who are constantly in your face and monitoring your every action.

[Kyle Noe]

06:04 AM on 04/28/2012

The most innovative startups are acquired by the giants, who then proceed to stomp on the technology and then discard it. Google and Microsoft are some of the most anti-innovative companies today - they're terrified that a startup will grow large enough to take them down.

The problem is twofold: startups can't grow without VC money, and they're the ones who pressure the companies to sell out so they can get a ROI fast. The other problem is an obsession with being acquired - it's become a goal to be acquired rather than to sustain your business and grow. And that's often because the founding idea wasn't innovative enough. Like Bump Technologies (such companies have no business including words like "technologies" in their names).

[Flight]

11:22 AM on 04/28/2012

Tru dat. Entrepreneurs should try to hold on to their companies as long as they can without selling out. You never know where it will take you down the road.

[dudeinaz]

01:23 AM on 04/28/2012

The concept is not new or Dorsey's. Watch an old episode of Star Terk.

[mjredder]

01:08 PM on 04/30/2012

Donald Faison?

[jsgaetano]

10:25 PM on 04/27/2012

Gotta agree with the guy on that. I'm tired of tech which seeks to be in your face all the time. That's why almost anything ad-supported is working with a failed business model. Look at Google, for example: they're actually an advertising company, since that's what pays their bills. But their ads get out of your way.

[moutonnoir]

11:34 AM on 05/21/2012

ad supported tech utilizes the successful business model of the last 200 years, or more, of comercial printing\ad world.

i read a lot of trade magazines - they are FREE.. some are quite good.. they are supported by ads.... therefor the content has two goals: 1)be free 2)be as high quality as possible to expand readership.

if you want to pay the (honest) $10 and $20 these little apps SHOULD cost, then shun ads.

but all that said, i avoid ad supported apps like plague... so what do i know

[The JillyBean]

08:09 PM on 04/27/2012

Yup, all that just made me want to unplug. Normally I prefer that tech be younger unencumbered thinking people. But looking at that slide show reminded me what is wrong with tech now, particularly the "social media" driven aspect of it. It relies on people's narcissism to drive it. It's just fancy behind the curtain ingestion of consumer information to tailor our intake of advertising and information.

And just like Web1.0 (or whatever we call it now) there is still no real product at the end of all of these start-up companies. They are the get rich quick schemes that we saw right before the last tech meltdown. But what the hey, we like tripping over ourselves.

[Jack Davies]

08:44 AM on 04/28/2012

Ah, but keep in mind that data itself is a product, and a vital one. Not to mention a business model could just as easily rely on a service offered rather than a product, and that too can be quite vital. Just ask Google indeed...