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The Joy of Technology
The technology that helps us through our world these days is more astounding than ever. From cell phones to cars to computers to multi-function devices that can zing a document from a restaurant table in downtown Salem to Dubai in a matter of moments, we now enjoy a level of comfortable production that is as easy to use as it is to take for granted.
Running behind on the weekly column? No problem just scratch that baby out on the “Palm” and “Bluetooth” it over the “Wi-Fi” to the “Net” and its on its way to Meg and Rico . . . Piece of proverbial cake.
When it’s working.
But Ohhhhh, the nightmare when the system goes down - as mine did recently.
My difficulties started while on spring break at the San Diego Zoo - at the Polar Bear exhibit to be exact. My wife thinks maybe I didn’t secure my fanny pack all the way but I’m almost certain one of the bears picked my pocket. You could see it in their eyes that they coveted my new Motorola - which just goes to show, you just can’t trust a bear, no matter how many fish you feed him.
But whether bear or mid-age forgetfulness, I quickly discovered that being cast headlong into an “incommunicado” state was both a blessing and a curse.
I am happily involved in a variety of responsibilities these days and being unexpectedly out of touch with any one of them had the potential to create quite few problems. Compounding it was that we had to temporarily close the cell account so that the message callers received was, “This is no longer a working number,” which might as well have said, “Stuart has left the planet and the odds of him ever getting back to you are nil to none.”
But I did enjoy the freedom of being un-tethered. It was like floating in space, surreal and weightless. Not a single call could find its way to me. The only people on the planet who could reach me were those with whom I traveled. I think the worst “call” I received was from seven year old Rob who woke me up by the pool to ask for another bag of Cheetos.
“Sure son, have as many as you like - the world is yours . . . at least until I get my cell phone back . . . ZZZZZZZ . . .”
But just like an astronaut, I knew there was a price to be paid – hours in the decompression chamber reading emails and listening to answering machine messages when we returned. “Oh well,” I thought, “It could have been worse.”
And pretty soon it was.
A couple of days ago an error message popped up on my trusty Sony laptop: “Windows was unable to save the file “M$1317te” (or something like that), this may cause problems with some programs on your system.” The only option given was to click “OK.” I remember thinking that I probably wouldn’t know the full effect of this little anomaly until I rebooted the machine.
Two days later I got my answer. Nothing worked - email / internet / word processor. To make matters worse all of the common methods one might use to fix such a problem were rendered useless. Even the “Maxtor Backup Program” that was to protect me from just such an event could not function without this particular file, so while my data rested safe and comfortable on another hard drive, the computer itself remained inoperable. It put me way behind, but with four young children that’s a condition I’ve become rather used to.
But behind what? Behind the demand to get more and more done with less and less time? And how much of what I do through the medium of cell phones and computers is actually the stuff of which life is really made?
Not long ago while buying a new printer at Staples I asked the “techie” salesperson (who clearly knew a lot about computers) what brand he owned. “I don’t own one,” he replied.
“You don’t use a printer with your computer?” I replied a little surprised.
“No, I don’t own a computer anymore,” he said flatly.
“You’re kidding,” I responded. “Seems like someone who knows so much about these things would own one.” I gave it the inflection of a question and he took it as such. His answer has stuck with me.
“I was sitting up one night looking at cars on EBAY when it hit me. There wasn’t a chance in hell that I was ever going to actually buy one of those things. And then I thought about all the time I actually spent playing around on the computer and I came to the conclusion that it was an unbelievable waste . . . So I sold it. It is positively the best decision I have ever made.”
It occurred to me that not only did this Guru not practice his own religion, he had, in fact, wisely disavowed it . . .
Technology is certainly not a religion to me but its claim upon my life is stronger than I’d like to admit. On our next vacation the cell phone is staying home – or at least in the car. And if you know anyone looking for a laptop missing a simple file or two please give me a call . . .
(But not on the cell!)
- Stuart