Technology: Blessing or Curse?
September 12, 2008, by Cathy Fischer
Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination.
—Attributed to Albert Einstein
At a conference last spring I learned that baby boomers have in fact embraced technology, however they are typically five years behind the curve. Early adopters? Not so much.
By day I’m an online producer. I work on websites. I don’t build them or make them function (the smart folks I work with do that) I’m all about content—what’s on the screen and how to get people to find, read, explore or interact with it—hoping it’s time well-spent. In the mid 1990s, I had a yellow handwritten Post-it Note on my computer. Like an affirmation it read, “Fear not the machine.” And soon, I got over it—the fear that is.
While I don’t fancy myself an expert, keeping up with trends is an occupational hazard. There are times I love technology—all the bells and whistles, portability and convenience—and other times, it’s a persistent frustrating annoyance. Today’s trends make me smile or want to commit murder. So, I’ve decided to break it down to specific popular options and ask the question: Technology: blessing or curse?
Text messaging: Blessing
Used in moderation, text messaging is great. Running late? Meeting up at an outdoor concert? Avoiding the riot police? It’s genius! Just don’t take it too far.
Twitter is where I draw the line. All the rage with the perpetually connected set, Twitter allows users to send text messages by phone or Web. For me, it’s too much information; but I never say never. Twitter was put to good use when during the San Diego fires, the PBS station sent out “tweets” with up-to-the-minute road closures.
Cell phones in social situations: Curse
Miss Manners is just getting around to writing the rules and sadly, too many Americans lack manners: loud talkers on the bus; beacons of bright light in the darkened movie theater; dining mates taking calls mid-meal—not good. Not good at all.
Social networks: Blessing
I admit it. I’m on Facebook. Wanna be my friend? My 19-year-old niece found it hilarious when I joined last year, and now the majority of users are older than college age. I’ve reconnected with friends and colleagues, joined social action groups and gotten updates with the click of a mouse. LinkedIn is also good for professional networking. MySpace? Too ugly—no thanks.
iPhone, Blackberry, Trio, etc: Blessing/Curse
I really enjoy my new iPhone. Luckily, I am not obsessive/compulsive, so I can power down when needed. Being connected 24-7 is too much! I’m challenged, sometimes, when I want to look something up right then and there—especially when my perimenopausal brain’s search function isn’t working—but I resist, most of the time.
I’ve just scratched the surface here. There are wikis, social issue games, webisodes, political organizing sites, online dating, maps and more.
My advice to the tech-challenged is to find at least one savvy friend, coworker or child, ask questions and have them show you the way. Or take a class if you’re that type of learner.
Let’s try to lessen that five-year gap, y’all. We learned how to use calculators, faxes and answering machines in our lifetime, so just because we didn’t grow up with it, doesn’t mean we can’t catch up with it.
Technology: blessing or curse? What do you think?
September 12th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I am so glad that my son, 15, carries a cell phone. Even though he leaves it off, or doesn’t answer it when he sees my number pop up in the display, I FEEL better knowing he is connected and COULD reach me in an emergency…even though he won’t let me reach him. Facebook, Twitter, et al, in my opinion are black holes. You can think you’ve got the whole afternoon ahead of you, but then when you take your eyes off the (small) screen, it’s dark outside and time to tune into the old technology — television — and watch The Daily Show.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Well–As a five year gap-er, behind the curve, baby-boom Troglodyte, my question to all ya’ll is, why all the pressure to catch up? It’s as though we’ve all become soooo important that missing one phone call may end the world as we know it (and would that be so bad)? I am almost positive that the kid behind the counter at Jamba Juice is NOT a covert operative keeping us safe from bio-terrorists and does NOT need his Blue Tooth stuck in his ear while he’s trying to take my order. And just because we have the technology, does it then follow that we must use it? I am past amused at people tweeting, booping, ringing,and pinging their way into my consciousness. I am for efficiency and convenience and information, and even for wasting vast amounts of time. I love my games. No doubt many situations are made easier and safer by using a computer, an Iphone, and a cell phone, but like children, we get them, play with them, then discard them for the next new technology. What waste. When that new Iphone thing came out a few months ago, throngs of people wrapped around the store like they were only going to manufacture one per person. Get it TODAY!!! Get it YESTERDAY!!! Get it installed directly into your cerebral cortex….
Isn’t it amazing how I didn’t use the phrase, “new fangled contraption” in my reply? Ya know, many of us don’t consider ourselves to be fuddy-duddies, or that we may fear the machine, we just don’t put it that high on our priorities list. And–”You damn kids, get off of my lawn”!!!
September 12th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Conz,
I really enjoyed and appreciated your rant. I hope you feel better now that you got that off your chest, via COMPUTER. Personally, I waited for the second coming of the iPhone and did not stand in line. Being of our generation, I think we can be moderate and hopefully reasonable in such things (no Blue Tooth here – yet). So grab your Netflix DVD, your 52″ LCD flat screen HDTV, and get on board baby! The train is coming through.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Cathy I love technology. I love not using the phone and communicating via e-mail. I think we’re re-establishing the lost art of letter writing and communication. For our family, the cell phone is a safety net. If I need to find my husband in an emergency, I can reach him right away. Since he is a teacher in a dungeon-like school, I really cannot count on the front desk to get messages with him. As a parent the cell phone is a little like an invisible umbilical cord. Personally, I prefer Facebook to My Space. I have a Facebook page, but only to keep an eye on my teenager. Frankly, kids really need to be educated about the dangers of predators on the internet. I have heard of kids engaging in risky behavior on these social networking pages. I guess it’s fun for them…a form of expression…a way to connect. I think it’s BORING.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I got together with a friend for dinner the other night. Between the calls she took, the calls she made, and the times she checked just to see who was calling when her phone rang, we were interrupted ELEVEN times. My phone never rang once. I am SO unpopular, thank God. I am not interested in text messaging but I love when my friends who do it respond IMMEDIATELY. I’m definitely not interested in Facebook, and recently took down my profile, because I just couldn’t bear having to now check emails AND respond to, what is it…? Being tweaked? Pushed? No, poked! That’s it! Please stop poking me and just send me an email. I’m all for technology but I reserve the right to succumb only when I must (like McCain is just gonna have to learn how to use a computer one of these days), and I reserve the right to hate it and all its annoying bells and whistles.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
No matter how you cut it, Technology, and all communicative devices mentioned above, constitute language in the 21st Century. Like new words in the dictionary that you may not use except in the occasional Scrabble game, since language and culture go hand in hand – I prefer to know the language and hopefully use it with some modicum of grace and finesse for the purpose of communication. If in this country we started speaking a language I did not know (which to some degree is happening right now) my first priority would be to learn the language.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
First I have to admit to being in love with technology. I write about it (8 books and several websites including my own Compu-KISS site at http://www.compukiss.com) and I live with it everyday. I have also spent 8 years writing about technology for AARP, so I understand those who didn’t grow up with computers and their relationship to technology. We (I am a boomer myself) don’t need technology to take over our lives, but we need to understand technology so that we can use it to enhance our lives. The more we know, the better off we will be. I just posted a story about the new Vibe hearing aids that are tiny and pretty. (http://www.compukiss.com/articles/hearing-aids-make-fashion-statement.html)These and other technological breakthroughs will make our lives better, healthier, and more fun as we age!
September 12th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Exactly where ARE we going so fast?
The only reason I like cell phones is that now when I meet all those ranters on the street, yelling to or at god knows what, I just assume they are on a cell phone like all the other crazies.
I prefer NOT having a cell. I DON’T want to be located. Thanks.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
And without all this technology, someone would have to take out an ad to get two shameless plugs in for their website and how to order a book or other helpful gadgets. I kid because I care. I find I don’t care that technology is starting to pass me by. I pick up what I can use (and understand) and discard the rest. OK, because of Cathy, I signed on to Facebook. But much like the rest of my life, Cathy is my only only friend there too.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Hey there, great post. I had two tech-free weeks of bliss in August and didn’t even go through the shakes that people warned me about. I love technology and keeping in touch with people but I also need my moments of “powering down.” Nice post Cathy!
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:44 am
UPDATE: Fifty is the New is now on Twitter! I did say, “never say never”…
Come follow us!
http://twitter.com/fiftyisthenew