Wow, that’s a big title, isn’t it? I’m not overreaching - just some observations. I paid a lot of attention last week to people all around me and how they use personal technology without realizing the behavioral changes that have come with it. Here are four short stories.
A ten year old is visiting me this week and she uses her mobile phone to text her friends – this is a constant activity. I asked how many texts she sends and whether she uses her mobile phone to make calls (just checking). She reported that last month she had just over 3000 texts. I asked if she sends fewer texts when school is in session (I assumed she was just staying in touch over the summer break) and she said “well, no”. In fact, she texts a lot more when school is in session. I asked if she texts during classes and she didn’t seem to think that was even a relevant question. Also, she has a boyfriend but they don’t ever talk to each other – they only text. And, she does make a few phone calls — not many. So, her mobile phone is really a texting device and her friends text each other even if they are side by side.
And it’s not just ten year olds. My husband and I were at dinner in a nice restaurant – a date place. A young couple was at a table next to us — 20-somethings who appeared to be on a date. Each had a mobile device in hand and was texting away. We never saw them talk and yet, they seemed to be enjoying all of this. Each was pretty animated in their own space – maybe they each had a virtual date with the person they were conversing with. It seemed odd for them to be physically together, just the two of them and yet, they spent all their time with someone else.
Then, I met some women friends for drinks last night. We all live on the same block on the same side of the street – only one house separates each of us from another. We realized we rarely see each other but we do talk through email and at least one of us is traveling at any time. So, our friendships are strong and interesting although we rarely look each other in the eyes. One of them has a one year old and she is wondering if his social life will be radically different from hers. Will he ever spend any time just being physically together with others and talking face to face or will most of his conversations be virtual?
Finally, a friend who is a woodworker was showing us some of his handiwork – amazingly beautiful furniture that precisely and wonderfully built. He happened to ask about my work at Gartner and suddenly pulled out his new iPhone. He talked for 20 minutes about how much he loves it, he made some videos and talked about his furniture while we watched, and he demonstrated all the things he can do with the phone. I think he was more enamored with his iPhone and its design than with the incredible handiwork that he creates – I believe the iPhone was recreational for him.
So, this week, technology was in the air – everywhere and all around me and a natural part of how most people got through their day. Technology extends the “place” where we are beyond that personal bubble surrounding our human body – the reach of our voice, the range of our hearing, the distance of detailed eyesight, the people we consider ourselves “next to” — and into the space where our conversations can reach. It substitutes for talking, entertainment and for being together in the personal bubble. And, even in a recession, personal technology and connectedness have become a necessity of life in the world that I inhabit.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Jay Scism // Jul 13, 2009 at 5:04 pm
While I sat out a 4 hour flight delay by watching progress of a baseball game via my laptop and espn.com, the girl next to me spent her time on facebook, and we all used our Internet-enabled cell phones, blackberries, and laptops to track the status of our delay. When my cell phone died, I communicated with my wife via email.
I have watched my own 14yo daughter work on facebook, text, watch TV and talk on the phone at the same time (there’s a lot more texting going on, we routinely see 4000/month from just her alone).
This is an amazingly technology-enabled generation, but are they capable of keeping the technology train moving forward, or are they going to be victims of the lethargy it can create?
2 Observations on Society and Technology « Gadget Exposure // Jul 13, 2009 at 5:35 pm
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3 Observations on Society and Technology - Local Tech Experts // Jul 14, 2009 at 12:17 am
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4 Kathy Harris // Jul 19, 2009 at 11:26 pm
To Mr. Scism — Thanks for your comments — sounds like another high-tech day for you too. I agree with you that these are vexing questions; however, the 10 and 14 year olds we’re dealing with don’t know why we’re even talking about this.
I do think people will have to put away the technology occasionally — turn it off and tune it out — or it will overwhelm them and their lives. And, the interfaces and integration will have to be simplified — carrying around multiple devices and managing interactions with multiple websites and applications is tedious and time consuming, not to mention complex. We will need simplification.
Kathy
5 Kristin Moyer // Jul 20, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Mr. Scism and Kathy,
I often wonder, as well, what will happen as the “texting” generation starts full time employment. But I have high hopes that the technology train will move forward in amazing ways.
My husband and I rode in an ultra marathon mountain bike race (100 miles) this past weekend in Breckenridge. We didn’t have as much time to train as we would have liked, so we rode it as a team with one of our soccer Dad friends. There are three loops in the race, so our soccer Dad buddy rode the first loop, my husband rode the second loop and I rode the last loop. Here is a conversation I had with my four boys (ages 8, 7, 6 and 3) as we drove out to cheer our soccer Dad friend as he rode through Frisco:
My boys: “Mom, are you going to be wearing a chip again this year so that they know you rode your lap?”
Me: “Not this year, but I’m not sure why. Last year they had us wear chips.”
My boys: “You know what would be really cool? Instead of a chip that just detects when you go by, they should have a real GPS chip in there. Then we could log on to the race’s Internet site, type in your bib number and see where you are on the course – you could be like a dot on a map. If you are not moving, your dot could be red. If you are moving, your dot could be green. Then we could know if you crashed or had a flat tire or something.”
I thought that was a pretty cool idea. And dreamed up by a 6, 7 and 8 year old. Makes me excited to see where the next generation of techies will take us.
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