James Norman reflects on how technology is affecting society..
Well, I'll be googled
Article from: Herald Sun
James Norman
April 19, 2008
THERE comes a time when it is worth taking a step back and reflecting on
the depths of stupidity to which we as a race are sinking.
I had such a moment of cynical epiphany recently when I heard news from
London that they have had to start installing "texting-proof " furniture
in public thoroughfares.
Apparently there has been a spate of instances where people have
forgotten the im****tance of maintaining peripheral vision while walking
down the street. They simply walk, text and break bones ba****ng into
items of public furniture, or other hapless pedestrians.
In Britain, there were estimated to be 6.6 million such accidents last
year, and now the lampposts in London's Brick Lane have been padded to
protect against such injuries.
It is proposed that if the trial is successful, it will be rolled out to
other "texting black spots". Anyone who has wandered around Melbourne's
streets will know that the problem is certainly not isolated to London.
But when Londoners were surveyed about padded public furniture, almost
50 per cent said they thought it was a good idea.
Other suggestions being looked at by London City Council include "mobile
motorways", like bike lanes, giving people a brightly coloured lane to
walk along safely.
It would be funny if it weren't true.
There was a time (not so long ago) when anyone who was seen in public
talking into their mobile was thought of as a bit of a tool. Now it has
become completely normal.
Much as we are now expected to simply sit and endure while our friends
or acquaintances chat or text - while we are in mid-conversation with
them.
And, yes, I have even had friends re****t to me how they felt when their
then partners responded to a text message in the middle of having *** -
but I won't even go there now.
Former Wired Magazine editor and writer Douglas Coupland pointed out
recently that we have reached a point in human history where the use of
decades and calendar years as a measure for time is over.
Time is now measured in "tech waves" to both define and demarcate eras.
While he perhaps overstates it, I can think of life pre or
post-Facebook, and certainly it is easy to mark out the era before or
after the internet.
So, we have now apparently entered the era where we must accept that
mobile phones, and the subsequent public health implications of walking
and texting, are simply a fact of life that public health authorities
have to take into account in planning legislation.
I think I had a taste of the next era the other night. I was out with a
friend who had recently returned from the US with one of the new Apple
iPhones.
These devices deliver on the promise of smooth, fast internet
connection, with a bigger screen and more fancy gadgetry.
We were discussing the recent tour to Melbourne of British singer Roisin
Murphy. Another friend suggested she was from the band ****tishead, but
we were quite certain it wasn't the case.
No problem, said my iPhone-equipped friend - I'll just look it up on
Wikipedia. So we sat there in this city bar while he connected to the
internet and verified that she was not the vocalist for ****tishead,
although she had sung with the group.
In a few years this will be normal.
We won't really have to think too much, because we'll be able to just
look at any problems that cross our paths on Google while visiting the
supermarket, or even in a public lavatory.
--
rgds,
Pete
=====
http://pw352.blogspot.com/
'I'm not young enough to know everything' -Oscar Wilde
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