Technophobia 101

The Medium is the Massage was a fascinating book to read at the beginning of the semester for this class. Besides the obvious details in the book that made it so enjoyable (the layout, the prophetic technology ideas, etc.), one idea that really stood out to me was technology as an extension of our senses.


The role of technology is often to take on the role of our senses: to perceive and understand the world around us. Whether it is a mechanical arm in car factory, or a laptop computer in your living room, the role of technology is to help us do something better. Anything from building cars, cutting steel, keeping in touch with our relatives in Texas, or just watching/reading the current events in society. These are all things that technologies allow us to do better or easier.

However, this post is taking a turn down Technophobic Lane.


In my opinion, alleviating stress on ourselves has been the main goal of technology since Eli Whitney developed the cotton gin. Sure, we could eventually pick all the seeds out of the cotton, but why not make a machine to do the boring mundane task for us? However, the idea has spread to almost every walk of life. I would have never saw this as a problem despite any technology that has been invented if it weren't for one complicated little piece of machinery:

The Calculator.



You see, the calculator took the boring mundane task of using our brains and made it robotic. Now.. Average Joe doesn't have to learn basic math anymore, instead he can master the art of typing 07734 over and over again on his calculator for a quick laugh.

This is where is see things going downhill.

How long before there's a technology to talk to people and answer their questions for us? (Oh wait.. automated phone calls). Or how long before we don't have to bend over to pick stuff up? (Oh yeah.. there's the Gopher for that)

All I'm asking is how long before we have a machine to extend ALL of our senses simultaneously? And what do you think this technology would be? Personally, I think this machine would be something from a Will Smith movie. Something that can completely simulate all of a humans senses simultaneously. Sounds like HAL 9000 to me.. is anyone else worried about one day having to fight with your PC to get it to do what you want? It sounds kind of scary, but just more annoying to me.

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

(For the record, I love using a calculator, too I guess.. I don't want to have to spend an hour doing long division when CSI comes on in 20 minutes.)