Friday, February 24, 2006
Technology Breakdown
Isn't it pathetic? In the past, we relied on people. Now we rely on machines. Yet machines fail us like people do.The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is turn on the laptop and log on to the internet. If we do not have internet because of technical idleness around campus I feel as if they have put me in a box and closed the lid so as not to communicate with the outside world. If the laptop decides not to turn on I am going crazy that I am losing my work and I cannot access it. Is this the pestilence of the 21st century? Who to trust after that? Are we so physically detached from one another and computers/machines are the extensions of our bodies? Is this the metaphysics of a postmodern world?? (now THIS is what I call a mental breakdown!I should go out and get some air or start reading science-fiction for a change!! )
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8 comments:
i would start from william gibson, dear.
Well..I could go on forever listing my personal experiences that support my opinion that computers and people studying/doing/struggling with humanities are not a perfect match!
I mean..you prepare a whole powerpoint presentation and for some odd reason the pc/projector wont work-or even worse,work but cannot read the file..etc..'stupid machines' as an IT person says!
yes, internet is a democratic medium as long as you can afford 10-20£ to have an internet connection at home (well,in greece it's much more expensive- which makes it less democratic,maybe?)
Still,my friend, well done for struggling with technology-it might one day surrender to the power of our humanities' minds :P
xx
PS.I am afraid i dont know much about science fiction-but i just found out yesterday that F.Jameson wrote a book on utopia and the ways it is portrayed/expressed (?) in science fiction.I thought it was worth mentioning for anyone who might be interested..
If only my laptop were an extension of my body...I wish I had its memory capacity. Machines, I find, are different from people in that at least they make it clear from the start they have their own agenda.
And if you wake up in the morning and there's no internet, don't let it get to you. As one of the best filmakers says in the eponymous film, "you know, it's like anything else".
A computer is a tool. Humans have used tools for a very very long time but it not until now that our tools have become so complex that most don't understand how they work or are built.
If you depend on the tool on daily basis this can become a problem.
Compare it with a hunter that broke his bow and arrow. If he can't repair it or make a new, he can't hunt, so there will be no food and he will starve and die. :)
The solution is pro-activity. Learn how computers work. Realise that they are "only" tools and DO break. Make sure you can replace or repair your computer within your level of acceptance. Pay abit extra to get better/faster support and extended warranty or make sure you have a second computer. And ALWAYS backup your data.
The Internet is more difficult to handle, especially if the connection is down due to circumstances you cannot control. Going back to "the hunter" analogy. "If the animals are a sleep you can't hunt - go to sleep or watch TV" :)
@anonymous: Thanks dear I'll check it out!
@pred02 I am a humanities person I can't help it! Seriously though, philosophy is not as remote and redundant as you think, it is very close to our current social structures (see postmodernism). And Internet is absolutely useful!(wikipedia has saved me!) Yet, the abuse of technology is a problem. It is not only information. I still I believe that we are so dependent we have forgotten how to function otherwise.
Btw I was at the British Museum the other day with a friend and we saw a japanese (of course!) robot dog that is supposed to replace domestic dogs (a 'clean' version of a dog) that waved his tail and was looking at us as if he liked us and he wanted to play! Very A.T.... I wonder where this world is heading at!Nexttime I ll check whether they have robot guys as well...(preferably like Josh Holloway!!)
@pixina Aaaaa these humanities' minds, always functioning in peculiar ways...(I guess there is a binary somewhere, hahaha)
@ladydontmind If you of all people is talking about memory capacity what should I say?? I have the memory of water!:)
@Andre: I hope we wouldn't starve or die if machines/computers broke down!! ;)
@mia: I probably would! I order my food from Tesco online... :(
Oh no!Hahahahahahah!!!!
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