Field notes
A collection of field notes exploring how people, technology, and place intersect within China’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. Beginning with everyday experiences from driving an electric vehicle to navigating intelligent infrastructure, these observations examine how software, physical systems, and human behaviour increasingly shape one another. Drawing on more than twenty-five years across education, technology, and international practice, each note connects lived experience with the broader patterns of technological and societal change.
THE FIELD ARCHIVE:
The Day I Realised My Car Had Stopped Being a Machine
FIELD NOTE 01: How living with an EV in China changed my understanding of what a car can be.
June 2026
When my wife and I moved to China and bought an electric vehicle, I assumed we were just replacing an engine with a battery. Instead, I discovered we had accidentally plugged into a massive, pre-built infrastructure grid where the car behaves less like a machine and more like a connected smartphone. This note is a reflection on what happens to our daily routines when the ordinary objects around us quietly evolve into something completely new.
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Meeting New Technology
on Old Terms
FIELD NOTE 02: How living with an EV in China became an unexpected lesson in how people adapt to technological change.
July 2026
A realisation behind the wheel one evening made me notice I was driving my EV as if it's an ICE car, relying on decades of old driving habits rather than trusting the onboard system. Shortly after, during a university research visit to several tech boardrooms in Shenzhen, I noticed that global organizations often do the exact same thing with tools like AI. This note looks at why the biggest challenge in any major tech transition isn't learning a new tool, it's finding the courage to unlearn the past.
[ Read Full Note on Substack ]