I normally would have posted a new blog by now, but my primary computer CRASHED again and went into BRICK mode. Temporarily without my files and notes, I can’t complete the follow-up to my “Faster Horses” blog as I had planned. Instead, I thought I would rant about technology…and the world.
I have always been interested and intrigued with technology. Typically an “early adopter” I have had the Commodore 64, Apple II, Radio Shack TRS-80, and an original MAC, purchased when they were first introduced in 1984. Remember the really cool 1984 ad?
That was twenty-five years ago, and though technology has advanced far beyond what we all could have imagined, it continues to break down at its most base level: with the user. Think about how easy it is to buy a computer; but how incredibly complex it is to set it up, and transfer your files. Think about having to go out and source a wireless router and set up your own home network by yourself, without the assistance of a workman in grey Dickies to set it up and get it running. Sure, you can still HIRE someone from Geek Squad or similar to make a house call, but the cost to do so can sometimes approach the cost of the computer hardware you just bought!
The dichotomy is that technology has advanced so broadly --- and can do so much --- that it became a complex monster, consuming huge chunks of time and money, when it was designed to SAVE you both. Hard drive crashes --- even with data back-up resources --- will cripple you for days and sometimes weeks. New hardware and software can astound --- but often remain a nightmare to set up. (A great example is the new iPhone. Now that it is configured and interoperable with my laptop and the MobileMe cloud server, it is an astounding tool. But it took over two weeks of study, trial and error, lots of frustration to get there. That’s just plain wrong.)
So what is my point? In a way, our triumphs and frustrations with technology might be a metaphor for life today. Our highs are higher, and our lows are lower. When the economy was cooking, it was red hot; but when it crashes... The world builds the fastest cars ever available, but they run on gasoline that is in short supply, is expensive, and moves us toward environmental disaster. The military industrial complex can produce awesome weapons, yet our current wars are fought in hand-to-hand combat. We have become a global economy, and yet are bitterly divided in socioeconomic and religious warfare based on fundamentalism that is many centuries old. Its all so weird and frustrating.
OK...I'm done now. I feel better, until I read the paper again. And by the way, HP said it will take up to 14 days to repair my computer. Your friendly blogger will be limping along until then...
"There you go again, giving a f*ck when its not your turn to do so." --- George Carlin