Forget "I love you." What sends techno-addicts into stress mode is seeing a trio like "connectivity is down." Heart rates increase, panic ensues, meltdowns happen. And then the complaints come rolling in. These complaints are so public and readily available now that blogging and sharing thoughts online has become common practice. Do a Google search on "twitter / facebook / google / etc. downtime" and see the results flow - a classic
example here.
Yesterday I tried to access 4MAT's twitter account. I was surprised
when I received the above message. Surprised, but not about to rip my
hair out in a fit of rage.
My bemusement led me to contemplate how others might react in the same situation, and I began drafting a blog entry. So imagine my amusement when I read this morning's Metro paper and read the below article. Scrap my blog and start anew methinks!
It's no surprise that phones and computers have changed perceptions behind connectivity, but looking further into the Virgin Media poll, I find my eyebrows raised at the results (find out why after you read the below points):
- A third of people questioned reveal they feel anxious if unable to use their computer or mobile
- 31% of people say that their main worry is not being able to work online
- 27% say their main concern is not being able to communicate with friends
- 25%
were afraid of not being able to access online maps (random - and, what
happened to good old fashioned map reading rather than this dependency
on satnavs etc?)
- 15% freaked out if they couldn't access online shops/stores
- 66%
said they felt more relaxed when they had immediate mobile / internet
access. These people are called "Sosos" - switch on to switch off. (I
would have thought that would be Sotos but hey)
So we're predominantly a culture craving the "always on" lifestyle. Now I recently saw two films that forecast what may happen to humanity if we continue on this way (in the developed world at least): Surrogates, and Wall-E. Is society going to be doomed if we continue down the path of being totally reliant on keeping in touch with friends through a virtual environment? The Queen's English is already being destroyed by LOLchat and twitter's character limit (see article about the
expansion of the Collins dictionary and a separate article about a
teenage language dictionary designed to help adults understand youths)
Fast forward to the near future and I wouldn't be surprised if we end up in a world similar to that depicted in Surrogates (see Bruce Willis in his techy arm-chair to the left) or worse still, Wall-E, where we all communicate via computer and nothing else (see below right picture - which also lends concern to the Great Obesity Debate).
Don't get me wrong, the internet has done the world wonders, but has also done us several
disservices over the years.
If we can't reverse our effect on the geophysical environment, then how are we going to healthily limit our technological future?
The iPhone adverts are all about
"need to do <insert some regular task here>? The iPhone has an app for that". My previous comment about map-reading skills ties in here: thanks to mobile technology, you don't need to hold a map in your hand and figure out your right from left, you just need to be able to hold your phone and follow its directions. The debate is very much two-sided here: ease of use versus traditional dependancy on one's own skills. Accessibility versus life skill. But what happens if, in that crucial moment when your satnav or iPhone is about to say "turn left at the next road", connectivity goes down? Are you one of the people who will melt down and go into the foetal position in panic?
