Category Archives: Modern Technology

Communication Breakdown

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Joseph Priestley, the 18th century historian, theologian and philosopher (among other things!), once said “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate”.

Nearly three hundred years on, we live in an age where at the press of a smartphone button we can communicate with virtually anybody anywhere in the world. We can send a text to the other side of the planet in seconds and via social media can, in an instant, post a video greeting to friends and family wherever they may be.

It could be argued that with all these means of communication we are actually communicating more rather than less but Priestley’s comment is deeper and more significant than that. We may well be able to communicate in an instant at the touch of an electronic button but this is an age where fewer and fewer people correspond face to face. People begin relationships online and often end them the same way. A job can be lost by email and marriage can be ended by text.

Is that communication? Well yes, of course it is but is that what we human beings, the most sociable and communicative animals on the planet, really want?

Priestley was right then and he’s right now. This is an age where more is less.

 

Misinformation

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A few years ago our government urged us to stop driving petrol driven cars and instead to go for diesel. We were told that diesel is more eco-friendly than petrol, is better for our health, is more efficient, more economical and overall is much better for the planet. Interestingly it’s also more expensive – I wonder if that had anything to do with it?

We were told this week that, actually, the experts got it wrong and diesel is not only bad for the planet it’s bad for human health and, in fact, the particles emitted by diesel engines can prove to be fatal.

This kind of thing happens a lot, particularly with foodstuffs. We are told that we should avoid certain types of food whilst embracing others and then a couple of years later they change their minds. We are told we shouldn’t eat sugar then we should. Alcohol is bad for us but then we are told that it can be beneficial to our health. Certain fats are good then they’re not. Margarine is better than butter, then it’s not and on it goes.

The logical conclusion to all of this is that we can’t believe half the things we are told by those in authority and, since they don’t know what they are talking about we should just go ahead and drive what we want, consume what we want and live our lives the way we see fit based on our own judgement, experience and common sense.

More Technological Nonsense

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Funny isn’t it? Virtually every time I dial any telephone number beginning with 0800 or 0845 be it an insurance, utility or whatever company I seem to get the same response no matter what time of day I make the call.

“We are experiencing a much higher volume of calls than usual at this time ……..“. I am then informed that if I want to speak to somebody I will either have to wait and wait (whilst being entertained by some crappy 70s pop song by Boney M that sounds even worse 40 years later!) or alternatively I can ring back and repeat the process. Maybe I should try ringing out of normal working hours but if I do that the chances are – “Sorry, these offices are closed between the hours of 9am and 5pm. Please call back then”! Infuriating isn’t it?

Recently I sent an email enquiry to British Gas and received the response  –  “Due to unforeseen demand we are unable to respond at this time………….” But why?

Why is the demand unforeseen or the volume unusually high? In a country of 60 million people what do they expect? Such nonsense, why don’t the idiots just employ more staff to man the phones and computers. It can’t be that difficult to work out can it?

The people who run these organisations don’t have to have the gift of foresight or the ability to anticipate the unusual. All they require is bit of common sense and therein, I think, lies the problem.

 

Pornographic Music Videos

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Earlier this month veteran singer Annie Lennox called for pop music videos to be censored and rated just as films are by the British Board of Film Classification. Many parents of young children are naturally very concerned at the exposure of their offspring to unregulated televised pop music videos of which some, in the opinion of many right-thinking folk, are nothing short of pornographic.

Action is surely required but, whatever steps are now taken it may be too late for a whole generation of youngsters brought up on an unlimited diet of porn on the internet and social media sites. Don’t forget that this is an age where the first act of courtship to many adolescents is to email or text the object of their desire photographs of their genitals. How do you regulate and police that?

The internet has proved to be a revolution like no other and is an undoubted boon to many. There is however a dark and sinister downside and I fear we are yet to see the full extent of its effects on our society.

Nut Free?

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Allergies are not very pleasant at the best of times and the consequences of nut allergies (sometimes fatal) clearly rank high on the list of those to be avoided if at all possible.

Only a few years ago there was little public awareness of nut allergies but scientific research has revealed how common and dangerous they really are. As a result, suppliers of foodstuffs, no doubt scared witless by the threat of litigation, display clear warnings on virtually all of their products.

I bought a can of Tesco lemonade the other day and even that had an allergy warning, stating –

“Recipe: No nuts – Ingredients: Cannot guarantee nut free – Factory: No nuts.”

I must confess that I have never really associated lemonade with nuts, having assumed, somewhat naively I suppose, that it is derived solely from lemons, a touch of sweetener and a bit of gas thrown in to give it some fizz. Oh well, we live and learn!

What I find puzzling in this particular instance is that if the suppliers can state that the recipe is nut-free why can’t they guarantee the same for the ingredients? Surely they can control what goes in to their products?

Nuts? You can say that again!

Slaves to Technology (July 15th)

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Isn’t it amazing how dependent we’ve become on modern technology? We get in our cars, drive to work or to the shops, stop to telephone our friends and access the internet at every opportunity. It’s marvellous how all these inventions have contributed so much to our lives. Marvellous, that is, until they go wrong because machines, like flesh and blood will inevitably have off days and inevitably, at some point, will break down. And when they do, gosh, such drama, the world is surely coming to an end!

We become frustrated and angry and end up shouting at the darn things. Shouting at an inanimate object! That’s how crazy it has all become. What we need to do is take a step back, draw a deep breath, walk away and establish a sense of perspective. If the car breaks down, walk or take the bus. If your mobile or smart phone packs in use a landline or, perish the thought, speak to people face to face. If your lap top crashes, close it down, take it to the repairman and do without for a couple of days. 
It’s actually strangely liberating to be free of machines every now and again and it helps to remind us that we can and, up until a hundred or so years ago, did, live perfectly well without them, thank you very much. With or without technology life still goes on and without it life is certainly more simple and peaceful. How nice to go for a walk, to listen to the birds, to smell the flowers and to use the senses that we were born with instead of being force fed by some bloody machine. Still, I’ll be glad when I’ve sorted out Google and got my blog back up and running again!

Smart Phones Again

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Further to my blog on the lost art of conversation (February 1st, 2013) I thought I would share a nice illustration of my point about the worldwide obsession with mobile phones. Still on my US travels, I was in a restaurant the other day, well in fairness it was more like a cafe, when I could not but help observe the behaviour of a couple sat at a nearby table. They were  young to middle aged and both, as soon as they sat down, took out their smart phones and began pressing away as though their lives depended on it.

The attentions of the waiter seemed almost an intrusion as they quickly glanced at the menu and made their order whilst avoiding all eye contact, so focused were they on their screens. Their starter arrived and I detected a little mumbled conversation in between their hurried mouthfuls, though not for one moment did either one of them release the grip on their gateways to cyberspace.
Eventually, they were joined by three teenagers, presumably their children, who promptly (yes, you’ve guessed it!) took out their smart phones and began tapping away at that infuriating speed  that us older folk can only look upon with wonder and envy.
It was all building up to a glorious finale and when the father of the family suddenly took out another smart phone and simultaneously began operating one smart phone in each hand I felt like rising to my feet in loud applause cheering Bravo! I wish I could have taken a photograph but unfortunately, I’d left my own smart phone back at the hotel! What a dinosaur I am!

March of the Machines

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I tried to speak to my building society the other day but after five minutes of instructions to press one of  keys 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 and then a further choice of numbers, followed by some tinny 70s pop music and a voice repeatedly assuring me that a representative would be with me shortly because they value my call (oh, really?) I hung up. Call me impatient but I just didn’t see the point.

I considered my next move and, trying the the clever modern option, I pressed the “contact us” section at the top of their website’s home page but instead of giving me an email address so that I could (possibly) correspond with a human being I was presented with a drop-down option where I had the choice of about thirty questions and answers. At that point I gave up completely.

Since the Industrial Revolution, which began in 18th century England, mankind has come a long way and many of the advances made in science and technology are quite simply mind-blowing. However, progress has a price and that price is a loss of human input, from the cotton spinning machine doing the work of thirty manual workers to the computer making a whole company accounts department redundant.

Maybe the 19th century Luddites were right in opposing the take-over by machines because we now have large parts of the population who are unlikely ever to find work because, quite simply, there isn’t any; technology has taken over. Governments wonder at the social unrest, upheaval  and disenchantment in modern society. Well, they don’t have to look too far for the cause. Progress? Undoubtedly, but at what cost to humanity?

The Lost Art of Conversation

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One of the latest emails ping-ponging its way across the world is a quotation, attributed to Albert Einstein,  stating the author’s fear of the day that technology overtakes humanity and we produce  a generation of idiots. The realization of that fear is illustrated by a series of photographs of young folk enjoying everyday activities, such as, dining out, visiting a museum, playing on the beach and going to a sports stadium. In every picture all the people concerned are staring intently at their smart-phones completely avoiding any interaction with one another.

The quotation may or may not have come from Einstein – and a brief look at some of his most famous and penetrating statements would seem to indicate that it has not – but it certainly fits! Just walk down the street and see how many young people are on their telephones texting away. Visit your local café or pub, go to a restaurant and see couples sat down ready to enjoy an expensive meal but instead of looking at or speaking to one another they are pressing away on their mobiles. Why waste money on the meal, why not take food tablets like astronauts, or have intravenous drips fitted instead!

What on Earth is wrong with us, have we forgotten how to communicate other than by keyboard and text? Have we really lost the joy of conversation and the wonderful intricacies and nuances of language? Technology is all well and good and much of it has certainly enhanced and improved our lives beyond recognition but, there is clearly a serious downside to all this progress.

The last word goes to Albert Einstein, who definitely did say (about 50 years before the mobile phone was invented!) –   “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity”

Mobile Phones in Class

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The national schools inspectorate, Ofsted , whose website describes itself as “raising standards/improving lives”, has announced that it is starting a campaign to improve discipline in our schools.  About time too you may think, but let’s be generous: at least it’s a step in the right direction, no matter that it’s probably about forty years overdue!

According to newspaper reports, Ofsted have specifically stated their intention to encourage schools to  ban the use of mobile phones by children in the classroom.  I’m sure that parents who no longer have children or grandchildren at school will be astounded by that statement and will wonder how on earth we have got to the situation where children are allowed to bring mobile phones to the classroom in the first place. 
Call me old fashioned but aren’t school classrooms meant to be places of learning? Aren’t schools places where children are to be provided with an education as opposed to the opportunity to play computer games, text their friends and access goodness knows what on the internet.
How can such a distracting and disruptive practice be allowed? Have our state schools really sunk that low? The answer is sadly in the affirmative. If you doubt it just read the newspaper reports of demoralised teachers, assaulted by pupils and abused by parents, packing it in after years of stress and lack of support from successive governments.  
If children have to bring their phones to school, and I can see times when a phone might be necessary, such as phoning a parent for a lift or confirming a late return home, then they should be left in a locker in the school and accessed only when school is over or possibly in the school lunch hour, with the head teacher’s approval.  All schools have land lines and I’m pretty sure that they still have secretaries who are more than capable of linking pupils with their parents during school hours should it be absolutely necessary.
If Ofsted is serious about “raising standards” it should ensure that mobile phones are banned from the classroom forthwith.