Technology makes us stupid. I am, in part, talking about the kid with the iPod, PDA, Razr, and laptop who doesn't know how to comb his hair or even flip burgers; who can forget about ever making "Barista of the Month"--that would require far too much complex thought, and quite possibly both mental and physical dexterity from his atrophied brain and bones. He'll never communicate in proper American English (forget about the Queen), let alone speak without reference to whatever the latest iteration of "dude" might be. Perhaps I shouldn't expect any more out of him, and I'm probably just getting too old and crotchety (I just turned 37, that's 111 in tech-years)--maybe he will grow out of it.
There is however, another tech user whose stupidity bothers me even further--those who manage (and sometimes even develop) the various pieces of technical infrastructure we use, but somehow cannot manage to live with technology themselves. There are some, even a few who dwell amongst our TechRepublic members, who so diligently want to maintain their privacy online that they have lost sight of how to fool the very system they've created. For example, some sites (including our beloved TechRepublic) require a free "membership" in order to access certain content. We all know and understand the business model--some of us have even helped design and deploy such marketing schemes--and yet there are times we don't want to have our every movement tracked and monitored. Fair enough. But don't we have the technology to get around such everyday mundanities? Didn’t we leave a backdoor? Have we not developed the junk-only e-mail drop-box? Don't services like BugMeNot and one-time "fake" e-mail addresses take care of this nuisance? I say, yes, and then some. I'm writing this very article well ensconced behind two firewalls and a random array of anonymous proxy servers--no one but me even knows if I really wrote this and I'm not quite sure myself (delve into that philosophical and epistemological conundrum, if you dare). I understand anonymity and technology, but I refuse to become a slave to either.
Let me move beyond the rant and make this observation: If the technology exists only for technology's sake and not the benefit of those who use it, then the technology has already defeated us. Use the technology, don't let it use you. And by all means, don't let the tech steal your pants--it'll only make you stupid, Dude.
- Hutch
