Control: Scattered Scenarios of Technical Paranoia

An opening thought:

“Tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring.” – Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

There are times when technology has more control over us than we do of it. The process is speeding up faster than you may realize.

Our culture’s relationship with technology–the combination of hardware, software and lines in between–is a dynamic I circumvent often. In fact, it’s so prominent it’s difficult for any of us to avoid thinking about. The world is now a screen where friends are volatile statistics, personalities are ever changing pictures and the intelligence we rely on isn’t our own.

How many meticulous email slaves do you know, allowing each threaded correspondence to control their daily schedule? What about Blackberry or iPhone addicts afraid to leave home without their beloved clunk of buzzing metal? In both cases, it’s less the fret of missing something and more an emotional emptiness following the absence of our name being called.

With technology, it’s painfully easy for a cause to become the habit. And, the victim is us.

Technical progression is marketing. Consider the Apple laptop I’m writing on: Even if it was the top model in the market (it’s not), it would not be as advanced as what’s technically available. Apple has me purposely waiting. My paranoid conclusion is that because companies are derivatives of the technology, they have a frightening amount of control.

The catalyst for these ideas derived from two different potential scenarios I’ve been thinking about:

1. Apple is releasing its tablet device as a way of training the market for a forthcoming laptop. The laptop I’m predicting will have dual screens instead of one screen and a keyboard / track pad. The purpose for the tablet training period is so Apple can test the viability of a standalone tablet device while observing user computing behavior on a standalone screen.

2. Google has released Wave as a way of training the market for the future functionality of Gmail. While Wave is discussed as being the ‘future of email,’ I inevitably think the most popular features will be transferred to Gmail and Wave will remain as a project-based collaboration service. Or, the two services will be merged completely.

Presumably, neither scenario is inherently bad for technology as a whole. My paranoia is directed at consumer freedom. While we feel like we are waiting for the ‘next big release’ of technology to be developed, the truth is that it probably already has. The companies are simply waiting for us, the consumer, to be ready for them.

It’s equally exciting as it is scary, especially when you consider what’s next. Because, it’s what the future holds, not the present, that deems the control dangerous.

A closing thought:

“Why not improve the brain? Perhaps in the future we can attach a little version of Google that you just plug into your brain.” Sergey Brin, The Google Story

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Post Tags: Control, Psychology, Sociology, Technology

Comments ( View Comments )

Very insightful post. I had somewhat of a revelation during the Thanksgiving holiday. I went home to Boston, my cell phone broke, and my parents just moved into a new house – so the internet was not yet connected. After getting over the initial shock of being disconnected/off the grid, I realized that it was a completely liberating experience. In the economy of information, what are we if not our facebook profile, our twitter feed, our e-bank statements etc.? I think that working to maintain a personal semblance of individuality through new technology can often enslave our minds from time to time.

I can already tell that the Apple Tablet is a game changer. Even if this particular device doesn't blow up (although I think it will), a new precedent has been set. Apple is changing the standard, and the tablet is simply a bi-product of that strategy. The genius in the product is that it is more engaging than the traditional keyboard/mouse combination. I'd be willing to bet that for education, this will become the chalkboard of the new millennium — and the wealth of Apple will increase in the process.

I disagree with your assessment on Google Wave; it should be framed as “the future of communication” rather than “the future of email.” By consolidating many different functionalities into one program, they're attempting to make wave the standard rather than email or IM. The fact that it is free and completely open sourced shows that they wish to spread this idea as quickly and efficiently as possible. While it won't lead directly to profit, it will do so indirectly. It will also frame them as a democratizing company concerned chiefly with our well being on the web. They're trying to inject a pro-google ideology and brand sympathy into the world, and Google Wave is their conduit.

jmena added these pithy words on Dec 11 09 at 9:12 am

Very insightful post. I had somewhat of a revelation during the Thanksgiving holiday. I went home to Boston, my cell phone broke, and my parents just moved into a new house – so the internet was not yet connected. After getting over the initial shock of being disconnected/off the grid, I realized that it was a completely liberating experience. In the economy of information, what are we if not our facebook profile, our twitter feed, our e-bank statements etc.? I think that working to maintain a personal semblance of individuality through new technology can often enslave our minds from time to time.

I can already tell that the Apple Tablet is a game changer. Even if this particular device doesn't blow up (although I think it will), a new precedent has been set. Apple is changing the standard, and the tablet is simply a bi-product of that strategy. The genius in the product is that it is more engaging than the traditional keyboard/mouse combination. I'd be willing to bet that for education, this will become the chalkboard of the new millennium — and the wealth of Apple will increase in the process.

I disagree with your assessment on Google Wave; it should be framed as “the future of communication” rather than “the future of email.” By consolidating many different functionalities into one program, they're attempting to make wave the standard rather than email or IM. The fact that it is free and completely open sourced shows that they wish to spread this idea as quickly and efficiently as possible. While it won't lead directly to profit, it will do so indirectly. It will also frame them as a democratizing company concerned chiefly with our well being on the web. They're trying to inject a pro-google ideology and brand sympathy into the world, and Google Wave is their conduit.

jmena added these pithy words on Dec 11 09 at 12:12 pm

Very insightful post. I had somewhat of a revelation during the Thanksgiving holiday. I went home to Boston, my cell phone broke, and my parents just moved into a new house – so the internet was not yet connected. After getting over the initial shock of being disconnected/off the grid, I realized that it was a completely liberating experience. In the economy of information, what are we if not our facebook profile, our twitter feed, our e-bank statements etc.? I think that working to maintain a personal semblance of individuality through new technology can often enslave our minds from time to time.

I can already tell that the Apple Tablet is a game changer. Even if this particular device doesn't blow up (although I think it will), a new precedent has been set. Apple is changing the standard, and the tablet is simply a bi-product of that strategy. The genius in the product is that it is more engaging than the traditional keyboard/mouse combination. I'd be willing to bet that for education, this will become the chalkboard of the new millennium — and the wealth of Apple will increase in the process.

I disagree with your assessment on Google Wave; it should be framed as “the future of communication” rather than “the future of email.” By consolidating many different functionalities into one program, they're attempting to make wave the standard rather than email or IM. The fact that it is free and completely open sourced shows that they wish to spread this idea as quickly and efficiently as possible. While it won't lead directly to profit, it will do so indirectly. It will also frame them as a democratizing company concerned chiefly with our well being on the web. They're trying to inject a pro-google ideology and brand sympathy into the world, and Google Wave is their conduit.

jmena added these pithy words on Dec 11 09 at 5:12 pm

alex j. mann (.com)

Control: Scattered Scenarios of Technical Paranoia

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