Wednesday, April 15, 2009

New Technology...

This technology stuff is getting out of hand. Let me just say up front that any cutting edge software I may develop or brilliant technology ideas I may come up with are exempted from that statement. However, if the recent past is any indication, it does not seem like any cutting-edge software or other brilliant technology ideas from me are imminent, but should they occur, they are to be exempted.

New technology is not always bad, but the pace needs to slow down a little bit. It seems like when you buy a new computer, phone, camera or any other hardware item, you don’t even get out of the store before the new model comes out. As you are walking out the front door, very proud of how you have the latest and greatest gizmo, they are unloading the new stuff off the truck at the back door. Sometimes I think they wait for me to buy something to clear the shelf space for the new model. I’ve learned not to look back as I leave the store. It only makes it hurt worse.

Being in the technology industry, the items I buy are more tools than toys. One of the things I have learned is that when I buy a new toy…uh, I mean tool, is to just figure out what the basics are that I need it to do and don’t try to keep up with all the bells and whistles. I say that, but I’ve been intending to buy a digital camera for about three years and every time I think I decide on the one I want to buy, I hear about some other new or better feature that is about to be released and I decide to wait for it. So... three years later, I still have not bought a digital camera. But I have one on my phone. I don’t know why. But I do. I couldn’t find one without it.

When I bought my last phone, I went to the store and they tried to sell me one that did all the stuff that a technologically savvy person would expect. Of course, those were also the most expensive. Coincidence I’m sure. I finally told them I just wanted a phone that had an address book (because I can’t remember anything), speaker phone (because I can’t hear anything) and blue tooth (because I had just gone through the headache of buying a new headset and did not want to be unable to use it). The girl just looked at me like some hillbilly that had just come off the mountain and tried to explain all of the other, more advanced features I should want. I told her I understood the technology she was explaining, I just did not need all that stuff on a phone. Finally, I just walked out the door, went home and bought one over the Internet like I guess all the other hillbillies fresh from the mountain have to do.

The Internet is an amazing invention, but it too has caused our lives to be much more complicated than they really need to be. Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook and all the other social networking websites allow us to communicate and be friends with people all over the world. We can be friends with people we don’t even know. Explain that one to me.

And now there’s Twitter. Twitter let’s you post quick, short and frequent answers to the question “What are you doing?” Other people can subscribe and “follow” you so they are updated with each post you make. These posts are through the Internet from a computer or from a mobile device like a cell phone. Isn’t that one of the silliest things you have ever heard? Why in the world would anyone want to do that? I sometimes go to a lot of trouble to make sure people don’t know what I am doing. And now, with just a few keystrokes people can post what they are doing for the whole world to see.

What is it about people that makes them want to be so “connected”? Why do people think anyone else would really care about what they are doing? Are these people so pitiful that they need the reassurance to their self esteem that someone cares enough to follow them? Do they really need to know that much that someone cares? Or are these people so self-centered and egotistical that they think they are so important that someone would want to keep up with them? It's just crazy. Some of these people may need some professional help to get these issues in check.

If you want to follow me on Twitter you can do so at http://twitter.com/mwmcneil. It would mean a lot to me if you did.

1 comment:

  1. From a Biblical and Medical stand point we were created for relationships. infants do not thrive without touch, we all need contact with others. Our Heavenly Father is the one we need the greatest contact with. I do so enjoy keeping up with others this way. Thanks Cherri

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