Technology!!!

Some technology is reducing the amount of Jobs that are available creating unemployment.

Some Technology makes crime easier to commit, like Credit card fraud and banking cheats.

Some Technology makes it easier to communicate with people, mobile phones, blackberry's etc but they also creates anger in people who dont like the anti-social environment that they produce.

Some Technology is essential, the sort that makes for a better quality of life and also helps to prolong life, but do we want a society where staying alive longer depends on artificial means?

As a gadget junky I love technology but even now I am starting to think enough is enough, technology has now reached a point where it is starting to destroy certain walks of life.

What do you think?

Re: Technology!!!

I think generally technology has improved life far more than made some things worse. We'll always have crime. They'll always be Luddites railing against progress, but society usually manages to incorporate the changes without too horrible a disruption.

I'm personally grateful for the advances in medicine: my surgery was laproscopic so I was home and healing in 4 days; without it I'd have had far more invasive and painful surgery and hospitalized much longer.

I do agree that all change isn't necessarily progress, but wouldn't want to go back to the 1800s!

Re: Technology!!!

It's the natural tendency of human beings to 'go nuts' with new things, to carry them way past acceptable limits, then realize that they've gone too far, then scale them back to a more acceptable and workable level. The automobile is one example. After the 2nd World War, the ownership of automobiles went crazy -- especially on my side of the big pond. Huge opulent metal trophies plugged the highways. Now, people have changed their ideas. Smaller, more fuel efficient machines are the trend. The nuclear deterrant (as discussed in another thread on this forum) is another example. During the cold war, the earth filled up with nuclear warheads. Now, people all over the world have rethought the foolishness of nuclear arsenals and are looking at ways to drastically scale them back. I think technology is the same way. Most of it is new and still growing and it will get to the point of ridiculous before people rethink it and scale it back to a more moderate level.

Yes, technology has eliminated a lot of jobs. Because the 'good guys' are as new at the game as the 'bad guys', it is prone to abuse. And yes, the 'anonymous' nature of on-line activities and communication has generated a lot of anger from people who with the 'in real life' threat of a punch in the nose would have behaved in a bit more socially-acceptable way.

Give it time. As a species, we are not inherently stupid. We will figure it out and eventually scale it back to acceptable levels, just as we have done to everything else we've dealt with. But then ... I'm an optimist by nature.

cdn guy

Re: Technology!!!

What a thoughtful and well reasoned post!

Re: Technology!!!

Yes I quite agree with you AB.....for once lol.

Re: Technology!!!

My life has revolved around technology. I was an electronics technician for 42 years, troubleshooting and repairing it all. Technology is a tool, period. It saves time, resources and money. Since I got involved in personal computers at their release by IBM in 1978 I can assure you they have changed the world. One simple computer program can do the job of many people, freeing them up to do more important work.

Any technology will have good uses as well as abuse. Cellphones can become dangerous when used by stupid people while driving yet allow use to retrieve information that saves time and money.

I've watched a home computer increase in power while dropping in price when my first computer, an IBM PC, cost me $4800. I can buy a portable laptop with a 15" screen that is hundreds of times more powerful for $385 right now. The combination of computers and the internet has changed the world in too many ways to list.

Yes, businesses have become obsolete faster because of advances in technology. Movies on VHS tapes are gone and those on DVD are soon to follow. We can down watch them online for $10 a month as well as TV shows and documentaries.

Electronic readers are obsoleting book stores as online sales from such giants as Amazon.com and Apple's iTunes and Barnes & Noble have all but killed paper book stores. I, for one, think that is a blessing as my Kindle can hold 3500 books at the same time. Most of the fiction books I read cost less than $2 each and are available within 2 minutes without a trip to a book store. Technology moves on.

Re: Technology!!!

Bob I agree with you that technology can save time resources and money. It can increase the time that it takes to do a job or download something from the internet, it is making time stand still for a lot of people but what do we do with the extra time on our hands?

Ask the jobless person whose job has been taken over by technology if it is a good or bad thing. It is good that your Kindle can hold 3500 books but ask the paper manufacturers, printers, book sellers, if it is good for them
Making machines operate faster and more efficient is one thing for technology but is it good that it puts people out of work? Mobile phones!!! It is making communication easier but they could be causing a lot of health problems too, In the old days people used to walk round to a friends for a talk, now they sit in the armchair feeding their face whilst talking on the phone, not good healthwise.

Technology is good and has created giant strides in science and given the chance to explore space easier, but at what price. Do we all have to get used to having no work and allowing machines to do the work, what happens to the pride a person used to have in creating something or achieving something through their labours?

Where do we draw the line?

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Further to Eileen's post about medicine, I'm grateful that the technology was available for me to conceive by in-vitro fertilization (triplets born healthy in 1985) or I'd never have had children. I also benefited from laser eye surgery (1998), going from 20/600 to 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other.

Re: Technology!!!

AB I understand your concern over loss of jobs but technology is simply progress. We use to have cranks on cars and telephones. We used to hace reel-to-reel recorders, 8-tracks & cassettes. Progress moves on. As a worker you either keep up with the times and technology or face the real possibility that you might find yourself being obsolete. I lost my job at Intel in 2010 not because I was a poor worker but because the Fab where I was working was obsolete, outdated technology and needed to be replaced.

Cars used to be hand made, one at a time. Then Ford invented the moving production line. Car frames were once hand welded but have been replaced by robotic welders that do the job 10 times faster and don't take breaks.

Again, I see your point but must face the reality that is today's workplace. Use the best tools for the job, ie computers, or face replacement.

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You Folks all know your stuff and I'm not one to argue. The thing that bothers me however, is the complete loss of old trades and basic skills, how many kids today know how to use a chisel or handsaw properly, do basic house repairs?. What would happen if everything electrically powered stopped functioning, no power?, we all see the chaos caused by a blackout, everybody in the city acts like headless chickens, completely lost for what to do, imagine that on a permanent basis, or even a nuclear disaster?. I think we are becoming too cocky with technology, we have no plan B and we're putting all our eggs into the one basket, bad move. I think the person who knows how to rub the sticks together and get the fire going after the great darkness will be the most respected person around.