On technology, or, why your laptop offends me
This post has been in the works for awhile & of course the busiest week ever is a good time to start putting it into coherent thoughts & sentences.
Every day I am faced with technology – new programs, new methods, new uses, new opportunities & so on. I’ve been a decidedly analog person until this point. I’ve often said I’d like to work at library in the 1950′s, stamping due date slips & filing records in a card catalog. Indeed, I actually own a date set, compete with envelopes, date stamp & cards for my books, as well a card catalog. The paper world is where I belong.
However, the future does not belong to the paper world.
For quite some time I’ve resisted this. Said, “I’m not really a digital person” [despite a mild internet addiction] & planned on taking as many paper preservation courses as I could. Slowly, I’ve begun to find a balance & a truer appreciation for technology, but only after I stumbled upon the reason it’s bothered me so much.
That is: so what?
You have a super fancy phone that does a million things. So what?
I can download a hundred thousand application to make my life “easier.” So what?
There are endless amounts of online social networks I can be apart of. So what?
I realize – I have nothing against technology. My problem lies with the unexamined assumption that technology is always better, more of it is better and we should all use it more often & in more ways.
But wait – I’m writing this from a months-old laptop, updating a silly blog that few to no people will read, wherein I link to websites & blogs & applications. Am I a completely hypocrite? In many ways, yes. But I’d like to believe I view technology with a critical eye, evaluating it for the ways it can truly improve & enhance life & recognize when it’s just fun, neat, or a waste of time.
All this relates to another topic I’ve been mulling over lately – convenience.
At the end of August our car broke down. It needed a new transmission &, unable & unwilling to pay for one, we got rid of the car [for $125 at that!]. For about a month after we borrowed our in-laws car, but have largely done without this semester. Both Joel & I took the bus, even when we had a car, so it wasn’t a huge loss. I actually actively advocated to not get another car & resisted the idea for awhile.
But then we had to take our dog to the vet. And sometimes we wanted run some errands. Plus we had laundry to do. Once I was sick & didn’t want to ride the bus & get sicker [I'm ridiculously prone to motion sickness]. Going to the gym was hassle, as was getting dog food.
So, we got a car:
I had forgotten how absolutely & incredibly convenient it is! I can go to the gym & come home without standing in the cold for half an hour! If I miss the bus to work in the morning, I can just drive! We do laundry when we want!
We lived just fine without a car, but this makes it easier. Same with technology. Granted, there are a number of situations in which technology can genuinely make a difference. And I really do like having email & Facebook. Also, Web 2.0 really offers so much, even to archives & libraries, as well as the digital preservertaion. It’s just not the end all, be all solution to everything ever.
So don’t worry, having an iPhone doesn’t make you an asshole in my eyes. Just a little frivolous. But I’m also a little jealous & won’t say no if someone gave one to me.
Gosh that was long.
Soon I promise to give examples of technology that’s being used in incredible ways to enhance the quality of life for a lot of people.
IT’S SNOWING!!
Real, true, stickontheground snow! Hooray!
Time to do a bit more work, think on the things I’ve written & go to sleep.
Two classes finished, two to go!
