Hey all,
I've been remiss as moderator in starting up new discussions, moving things along, etc. I thought i'd hang back at first.
I had a thought (those worth mentioning are a rare occurrence) a while back that I want to run past everyone.
I was thinking that we think of technologies in terms of what they do. Want to know what it does, then turn it on.
But that in for communications technologies (phones, email, IM, you get the pic), a better test is to turn them off. When you notice their absence, you have found what they really do.
I guess what I'm saying is that for each technology there's a technical dimension and a social dimension. Social practices are difficult to observe from the inside; removing a technology may sometimes be the best way to learn about its social relevance and social function.
So......
One of the remarkable things about Internet-based technologies and other "thin" media (low human bandwidth), at least in my experience, is that their absence doesnt seem to matter a great deal. At least emotionally. I've never missed a phone, email, voice mail, etc while lounging on the beach.
But I have felt paranoid that I didnt know what was going on or that people couldnt reach me when my phone broke, or my email was down.
How have communication technologies worked their ways into your lives? What do you or would you miss most? What have you become dependent on? What services do you take for granted? How much could you live without?
I've been remiss as moderator in starting up new discussions, moving things along, etc. I thought i'd hang back at first.
I had a thought (those worth mentioning are a rare occurrence) a while back that I want to run past everyone.
I was thinking that we think of technologies in terms of what they do. Want to know what it does, then turn it on.
But that in for communications technologies (phones, email, IM, you get the pic), a better test is to turn them off. When you notice their absence, you have found what they really do.
I guess what I'm saying is that for each technology there's a technical dimension and a social dimension. Social practices are difficult to observe from the inside; removing a technology may sometimes be the best way to learn about its social relevance and social function.
So......
One of the remarkable things about Internet-based technologies and other "thin" media (low human bandwidth), at least in my experience, is that their absence doesnt seem to matter a great deal. At least emotionally. I've never missed a phone, email, voice mail, etc while lounging on the beach.
But I have felt paranoid that I didnt know what was going on or that people couldnt reach me when my phone broke, or my email was down.
How have communication technologies worked their ways into your lives? What do you or would you miss most? What have you become dependent on? What services do you take for granted? How much could you live without?
posted by:
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SF Bay Area
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Unsu...
Re: Depending on Technology
Tue, May 4, 2004 - 1:44 PMWe are very good at adapting. In the absence of one form of comm tech, we rely more on one of the others. We deprive ourselves on one form in order to learn more about it or get a more honest feel for its relevance to the other forms. I've felt my share of withdrawls from the various technologies out there, but the only ones i really need are a phone and a newspaper. And I could probably even give up the phone if I weren't in the midst of a job search campaign.
There you have it, an explanation for my current flakiness on tribe these days..averaging about five minutes a week.
