Think all IT pros go crazy over tech tools and toys? Not TechRepublic's Alan Norton. In fact, he may be approaching geek heresy with his take on these popular devices.
I didn’t think it could happen, but it has. I’ve become old school. It wasn’t all that long ago when I was but a young pup punching Hollerith cards in the basement of the University of Arizona’s Computer Science building. I do find myself in part now longing for the simple days when IT was called MIS and 640K was considered enough memory for a PC.
There are new technologies others crave that I shun. One of my neighbors, Chuck, is a true lover of new technology. He has a robot named RoboSapien, and he just ordered a roving robot named Rovio that has WIFI and a Web cam. He tells me he wants to keep track of his Shih Tzu puppy, Bodhi, but I know a tech-obsessed person when I see one.
I like bleeding edge technology, but there are some high-tech devices I can live without.
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Even those who can’t live without one have to admit that they are often annoying beyond human endurance. And the photos they take can lead to all kinds of problems.
There are other issues, as well. When driving, you have to watch out for the cell phone packing motorist. When carrying one, you have to worry about being tracked. When using one, you have to worry about the controversial possibility that the thing is slowly cooking your brain. This is progress?
Like Pavlov’s dogs, which salivated at the sound of a bell, I became conditioned to respond to the call for action. Upon hearing that awful beeping sound, the neurological connections in my brain were further solidified, linking the horrid device to the interruption of my peaceful evening. Is it any wonder I despise these insidious little technological monstrosities?
This is no longer science fiction. Companies as large as Wal-mart are preparing to use them for inventory control, theft prevention, and other well-intentioned activities. Unfortunately, unless some way is found to destroy them, remove them, or deactivate them before the customer leaves the store, the technology can be abused by those with less-than-noble intentions.
Jason Hiner recently wrote an article questioning the value of the e-reader: Kindle 3: Is there still a place for dedicated e-readers? The consensus from you, patient reader, is yes. But to me, the e-reader is like the question “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
How long will it take the e-reader to disappear into oblivion like the Cheshire Cat?
Will the smell of grass, the warmth of the spring sunshine, and the joys experienced by the kids on the neighborhood sandlot under an endless blue sky be forever lost?
Sorry, but I am not buying in to the notion that I should forgive poor grammar, bad spelling, or indecipherable texting because the sender is using a device with a lousy keyboard.
A new language, texting shorthand, is often the language of choice on devices with downsized keyboards. In its purest form, it has little resemblance to the English language. Will the next generation communicate like this? (TGG - TextGen Girl; TGB - TextGen Boy):
TGG: ru goin 2 prt 2nite?
TGB: idk ru?
TGG: y hoas 9
TGB: pu
TGG: 99 kpc
TGB: sys
TGG: lycylbb
TGB: rbay
(Shorthand messages from netlingo and Webopedia.)
I may be an OBX (old battle axe) or just plain OTH (over the hill), but I find that really annoying. In fact, any device that uses a too-tiny-for-my-fat-fingers keyboard is beyond annoying — it’s unusable.
If you use any of the 10 gizmos listed above, more power to you. But please allow me the courtesy of disliking what I deem to be misguided technology run amok. And I guess that is the problem I have with a lot of the new technology. It is annoying, functions less effectively than tried-and-true devices, or is just plain unnecessary. I don’t need a refrigerator that takes inventory or a microwave oven that is connected to the Internet. These appliances are too clever by half.
I get why people like their smartphones. However, a mobile phone subscription does not give one license to be rude or inconsiderate of others. We as a society should be careful that we do not allow machines to take priority over people or allow the use of “innocuous” dehumanizing gadgets to replace quality face-to-face time.
Technology pushes on and who knows? Some of these new gadgets might actually end up benefiting mankind in some meaningful way. Even with all of their issues, whenever I see an iPad or a new smartphone, a deep voice in my head says “Alan, give yourself to the dark side.”