Link to the Show / Show NotesI have an aptitude or a nose for technology. So much so that I've
been slowly weaning myself off of older communication methods and
focusing on using only email, iChat, blogging and Twitter to contact
people.
OK, that list seems like it's pretty complete and would cover the majority of people. Not so.
If you're reading this blog, you're still fishbowl-bound. What I
mean by that is that you are in the minority of users who read, comment
on, get information from, and communicate using newer Internet tools.
There are vast hoards of people who thing twittering is what birds
and old women do. They think skype is a type of street gambling in New
York City. They cringe at the term facebook because they think they
have to pose for something. And they won't even talk about secondlife
because they think it's just going to be a boring diatribe about
reincarnation.
Don't get me started on SMS, IM, emoticons, YouTube, Flickr and Tumblr.
So why do we (again referring to blog readers and the general
technorati) frequently lose sight of our insignificance? Are we
projecting our desires on businesses, organizations and individuals in
an attempt to lure them into the fish bowl with us? And why is this
quest so important?
What's so great about immediate corporate transparency? Is it vital
that we know TODAY why Talbot's closed their Men's Store or why
Brookstone keeps trying to sell us phallic massagers?
I'm not sure how we got here, but we're being led by some very smart and driven individuals.
Numerous people have commented in technology-centric forums that the
members in that forum 'get it', whatever 'it' is. Further, they applaud
increased involvement and urge members to spread their knowledge.
Doesn't this sound a little like Sun Myung Moon trying to build an army of followers?
Let's step back momentarily. As I understand it, technology can be
defined in two ways. Technology can mean the knowledge that is used to
create gadgets. Technology can also be used interchangeably to mean
those actual gadgets. For the purposes of my rant, I'm using it to mean
the physical tools, not the science behind the tools.
Continuing, how soon will it be before the fishbowl of any
technology turns into a fish tank and then a fish pond and then a sea
or an ocean?
Maybe I'm asking too many questions, but I challenge the smart techies among us to answer.
When will podcasting really catch on? It's not even flagged by my spell-check software anymore.
And what about GPS and satellite radio and email on phones and so on and so on and so on?
Ultimately, people are going to use what they're comfortable with OR
they'll become comfortable with tools and technology that enrich and
simplify their lives.
I just wonder if it's simpler to live in the fishbowl and stare out
at the distorted remainder of humanity. Or if struggling against the
glass day after day to make a difference and enlighten another few
people is our role because we get it.
Finally, when do we stop pushing? When we have all the technology we
can handle? When we're buried in gadgets and goodies up to our nose?
Technology nose.
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