Wednesday 18 April 2012

Technology

When I was a kid I felt quite technologically advanced as my parents both worked in the computer industry when it was still fairly new. Now though I feel a bit left behind. My telephone has many times more processing power than the room sized computers my dad used to install, complete with air cooling, cranes and tapes. It has functions that I am sure those early computer pioneers could never have dreamed of.
I understand that kids today take computers and technology for granted and learn to use everything as easily as they learned to walk. I feel somewhat baffled. I appreciate that something like a personal assistant on the phone is an incredibly complex piece of software but I can't really workout what I would use it for, or what it can do that I can't.
I also think there is an extent to which heavy reliance on technology reduces the scope of a person. If I ask this personal assistant to do everything what is there for me to do? Like taking photographs. I used to have a lovely 35mm SLR camera that I would carefully clean and adjust all the settings to make sure I captured beautiful pictures. Now I drag my phone out of my pocket and take a quick pic that I can then fiddle with using automatic filters all included in the phone.
I have also read that Google are launching glasses with a HUD (heads up display) integrated into them, so you can find maps, take photos, even buy things online just by tipping your head.
There is a film called eXistenz in which players of a game are physically connected into it, reality becomes very confused with the in game world. I wonder if that is our future.

1 comment:

  1. Crikey! I hope not! Like you, I appreciate a lot of the advances but also wonder about some others, and whether we are just removing ourselves more and more from 'real' life into a virtual one.

    ReplyDelete

What do you think? Please be kind and thoughtful.