About 3 years ago I heard the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Nortel networks speaking at a business briefing about advances in technology. This is the first time I heard the word 'hyperconnectivity'.
This word basically describes the connection between people and between people and information. The word hyper has been added because of the amount of connections we now have.
As I listened to this Techie describing how people will be connected to each other and know what everyone is doing and where their friends are (with GPS in mobile phones etc). How even our kitchen appliances will soon be connected to the internet; I felt like putting my hand up and shouting STOP!
One of the questions that is seldom asked when it comes to technology (by the way, I have worked in IT for over 10 years) is 'should we?'. The question is normally 'can we?'.
Just because we can, doesn't mean we should!
What are the long-term consequences of people turning to technology for information, as a primary means of communication etc?
We live in a world where we are connected to the internet, and therefore to each other, in many different ways. We are now bombarded with information 24 hours a day. The data we have been bombarded with in the last few years is not so much information, but a sort of news. Not news from media sources, but news from just about anybody we can think of.
Twitter and Facebook in particular are the engines of this endless barrage of information, the vast majority of it of little consequence to anyone. Its often chit-chat, conversation, banter etc.
But one of my concerns is that it could have a negative effect on a form of communication I think is superior to that which is technology driven, face to face conversation.
Have you ever bumped into someone you haven't seen in ages? You might spend a long time catching up with life and all the biz? Except maybe now Facebook has robbed you of that opportunity for personal interaction. I already know you got a new job, your dog died, your iPhone feel down the toilet and you got your eyebrows waxed for the first time ever last Tuesday.
Sometimes a feeling of dis-connection causes us to seek out people and community. Technology can fool us into thinking that we have community and relationship (maybe we do, but its a watered down, inferior version).
We need to consider again what makes a healthy human when it comes to relationships.
to be continued
This word basically describes the connection between people and between people and information. The word hyper has been added because of the amount of connections we now have.
As I listened to this Techie describing how people will be connected to each other and know what everyone is doing and where their friends are (with GPS in mobile phones etc). How even our kitchen appliances will soon be connected to the internet; I felt like putting my hand up and shouting STOP!
One of the questions that is seldom asked when it comes to technology (by the way, I have worked in IT for over 10 years) is 'should we?'. The question is normally 'can we?'.
Just because we can, doesn't mean we should!
What are the long-term consequences of people turning to technology for information, as a primary means of communication etc?
We live in a world where we are connected to the internet, and therefore to each other, in many different ways. We are now bombarded with information 24 hours a day. The data we have been bombarded with in the last few years is not so much information, but a sort of news. Not news from media sources, but news from just about anybody we can think of.
Twitter and Facebook in particular are the engines of this endless barrage of information, the vast majority of it of little consequence to anyone. Its often chit-chat, conversation, banter etc.
But one of my concerns is that it could have a negative effect on a form of communication I think is superior to that which is technology driven, face to face conversation.
Have you ever bumped into someone you haven't seen in ages? You might spend a long time catching up with life and all the biz? Except maybe now Facebook has robbed you of that opportunity for personal interaction. I already know you got a new job, your dog died, your iPhone feel down the toilet and you got your eyebrows waxed for the first time ever last Tuesday.
Sometimes a feeling of dis-connection causes us to seek out people and community. Technology can fool us into thinking that we have community and relationship (maybe we do, but its a watered down, inferior version).
We need to consider again what makes a healthy human when it comes to relationships.
to be continued
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