My thoughts on technology #2

I was browsing through the videos on "youtube" today and came across this video that I thought was interesting for a couple of different reasons. First off, this is a video about technology that is allegedly in development today. I will have to take their (whoever "they" may be) word for it because the actual source of the video is unclear. It seems to me though, that the common theme of all technology of the future is going to be compatible with everything. Your phone will be integrated with your credit cards, your kitchen table, the subway wall, and your doctors office.

Call me a pessimist but I find this hard to believe for several reasons. First off, I cant even get my own house on the same page, my girlfriend has sworn allegence to her Mac computer and iphone while I am firmly planted on the side of my PC and my Android. How are they going to get all of a city like New York to use a common interface? What about the people that don't have phones? What happens if you don't pay your cell phone bill, does it shut off your credit card and health insurance? I think that in order to integrate to the degree that they are predicting would require a complete ground level restructuring of our society and an amazing amount of conformity that I don't think the American public would openly embrace.

On the other hand I think that the excitement that goes along with the new gadgets and gizmos is great. I think back twenty years ago to the technology we had then and how far we've progressed since then. Computers have advanced exponentially, cell phones have gone from an awkward luxury to a streamline necessity, and software has tied the two into every part of our lives. Technology has had such an effect on our society and the way we interact with each other that it isn't hard to imagine a life such as the one portrayed in the video clip. But what is this costing us? I feel like the people in the video are being blindly led around by their electronics as they move from place to place with out ever looking up to see where they are. Is that where we are headed? I think that our electronics are progressing from things that have made out lives easier to things that are becoming our lives.

I enjoy the occasional disconnect from the matrix. It's not always practical but it's nice to know that we still have the freedom to shut off our phones and find a dirt road to explore. I certainly hope that in the quest for a utopian society we don't lose site of the individuality that makes us great.