The YouTube video we watched in class left quite an impression on me. It both fascinated and repelled me. I showed it to my husband later that night. When discussing it, I was interested to see that we both had a somewhat worried reaction to the video. Although the picture that was painted was an “appealing” one, there were some issues that persistently bothered the both of us.
First, we didn’t like seeing the children “plugged in” literally from the moment they woke up until they went to bed. Even now, it makes me sad to see kids who are on their video consoles and tablets all day long, and who are robbed of experiencing the world firsthand. I think children should play outside in the sun, smell the grass, laugh with their friends, and use their imagination. Yes, it’s really cool for kids to be able to use the corning glass to “see” a dinosaur in the forest, but it means they are less obligated to use their imagination. Also, although technology is an amazing tool for education, some of the school activities pictured did not, in my mind, have any clear educational purpose, like the kids playing with the colors at school. In the case of adults, I also think that we are becoming obsessed with technology to the exclusion of real-life human interaction and firsthand experience of the world around us.
Another area of huge concern for us is privacy. Facebook and other social media sites (as well as the NSA, hehe) have taken great liberties with their users’ privacy. I am not OK with Facebook “owning” my photos, but I am not given any choice in the matter. It seems to me that technology is moving faster than the legislation that regulates it. If medical doctors millions of miles apart can look at a patient’s medical information on a corning glass in the blink of an eye, who is to say that a skillful hacker cannot access it too, or that the information will not be shared with third parties without the patient’s consent?
I love the idea of using technology to improve and simplify our lives, but this video left me with the impression of a society that is slave-bound to technology, where privacy is nonexistent. If we are always plugged in, we become very easy to track. To me, this type of world is scarily like Orwell’s 1984, where Big Brother is always watching. For someone like me, who already resents practices like Online Behavioral Advertising, this is not a pleasant prospect.
First, we didn’t like seeing the children “plugged in” literally from the moment they woke up until they went to bed. Even now, it makes me sad to see kids who are on their video consoles and tablets all day long, and who are robbed of experiencing the world firsthand. I think children should play outside in the sun, smell the grass, laugh with their friends, and use their imagination. Yes, it’s really cool for kids to be able to use the corning glass to “see” a dinosaur in the forest, but it means they are less obligated to use their imagination. Also, although technology is an amazing tool for education, some of the school activities pictured did not, in my mind, have any clear educational purpose, like the kids playing with the colors at school. In the case of adults, I also think that we are becoming obsessed with technology to the exclusion of real-life human interaction and firsthand experience of the world around us.
Another area of huge concern for us is privacy. Facebook and other social media sites (as well as the NSA, hehe) have taken great liberties with their users’ privacy. I am not OK with Facebook “owning” my photos, but I am not given any choice in the matter. It seems to me that technology is moving faster than the legislation that regulates it. If medical doctors millions of miles apart can look at a patient’s medical information on a corning glass in the blink of an eye, who is to say that a skillful hacker cannot access it too, or that the information will not be shared with third parties without the patient’s consent?
I love the idea of using technology to improve and simplify our lives, but this video left me with the impression of a society that is slave-bound to technology, where privacy is nonexistent. If we are always plugged in, we become very easy to track. To me, this type of world is scarily like Orwell’s 1984, where Big Brother is always watching. For someone like me, who already resents practices like Online Behavioral Advertising, this is not a pleasant prospect.