On balance, would you prefer a life with or without the conveniences that computers provide?
(I fully acknowledge the inherent irony of this question being posed by a blogger.)
Before impulsively answering my opening question, please consider:
* Automated voice prompts instead of human beings responding to phone calls.
* Meandering, exploratory conversations grinding to a halt when someone uses a smart phone to provide THE "answer".
* Spam, robo-calls, bots, phishing, viruses and scams, social media influencers, meaningful discourse being compressed to 280 characters (or less), our personal data commodified and sold to any bidder by unregulated platforms that were supposed to make lives better, "alternative facts" and conspiracy theories peddled to billions of people who rely on their "smart" phones and rogue websites for information. In other words, before answering my question stop and evaluate the above and then add two other factors: The daily pain-in-the-ass quotient we all routinely endure because these "tools" are so ubiquitous AND how our utter reliance on these tools can render us oblivious to the downsides. Yes, that obliviousness has visited yours truly from time-to-time; recall the irony I mentioned?
On balance for the aforementioned irony-challenged blogger: Could I get along without computers and their nefarious progeny? Without a doubt. Would I choose to? Jury still out. Do I want to return to the pre-computer era? No way - love those bar codes and the way my supermarket wait has been shortened.
Has anyone else noticed how much more time we spend doing EVERYTHING ourselves? From going through endless automated voice menus to try to get to a real customer service person to downloading our own monthly bills and invoices (rather than the company printing and mailing them), checking out our own items at the grocery or Loews, to uploading documents for our bank, to making our own reservations at a restaurant to buying a seat at the movies, to ending the lease on our car, to signing documents electronically...we are doing lots of work that companies used to pay employees to do. It feels like there are no real people out there, only automated menus, and I'm stuck looking at my phone or computer for hours doing the work that used to be done by service companies. FRUSTRATING, and while some computerizations are definitely beneficial, I'm not sure the conveniences are worth it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well-considered, detailed comment. Some of the EVERYTHING you mentioned were things I had in mind in my post under the all-inclusive "pain-in-the-ass quotient" referenced in my third bullet. Your list of the many ways computers steal precious time from us - all under the guise of making things easier/more convenient - is capital "A" accurate, in my mind.
DeleteHello, Pat. Doesn't seem to be too much to add after reading 'Krowebar's' comments. And I agree with everything (or is that EVERYTHING? - lol) she mentioned. It is such a different world from when we were younger. And although the advancements in technology have made some things easier, I do sometimes miss the way things used to be. And I realize that makes me sound old, but .. I enjoy looking back at how things 'were'. At the same time I can be a pretty big 'geek' when it comes to how things are now . Always looking for the newest software upgrades to my computer or phone. Things are always moving forward. Usually for the better. I like to think that anyway. But the simplicity of how things were - I miss that too.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Bob; Advances in technology come with a lot of trade-offs. That's why I posed my opening question as I did, using "On balance..." as a preface. And, I had my tongue firmly in my cheek in my closing sentence. My hope with this post - as with many of those I've published since March 2011 - was to start on online conversation. Given I received two comments on this particular post (thanks to you joining in), I'll consider it - and the ensuing conversation - today's small "s" success.
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