Tech puts our heads in the CloudWhen Andrew Keen interviews author and journalist Matt Ritchell, it is as if two old friends are sitting in a TV studio talking. Keen’s continued observance on Ritchell’s height is really only something that friends can do to each other without it being taken the wrong way.
It is the comedy in the interview that makes this segment worth watching. While it is interesting to hear Ritchell’s book plot and diametrically opposed world view, it is the interaction between the two that keeps the viewer involved. The subject of “The Cloud” has her brain hijacked by the cloud – the place where all data is stored. The tone of the book is dark, but Ritchell says that he is an optimist. “We use our tools for good, but I think we use them for good when we pay attention to what they really are,” says Ritchell. Ritchell also claims that technology mirrors humans through searches and data and reveals who we are more so than at any other time in history. More people are searching for “orgy” than “apple pie.” The idea that technology is enveloping us at a rate faster than we can comprehend is a frightening one. Even if it reveals our human side, it does not make us more human, it in fact takes away our humanity. Humans define themselves in relationship to the other. When no other is present, who do we become? The cloud is already in the early majority of adopters. There just aren’t enough negatives about the technology when compared to the positives in terms of cost and space. Few people pay attention to the privacy issues that could arise from giving information to a large company. I suspect that FaceBook has something to do with the faith and trust not in the company, but in the idea that if something unjust were to happen, someone or something would come to the rescue of the masses in trouble. I had originally thought to juxtapose this article with a criticism on Nassim Taleb’s book “Antifragile.” The author of that article, however, didn’t support his conclusion as well as he should have. Short jokes continue in text. |
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What is technology?
Technology Society driven or vice versa?
Technology as predictable as weather
What is technology?
Technology Society driven or vice versa?
Technology as predictable as weather