241 Technology - For What It’s Worth!

I was amused not long ago (I think it was about the time that Apple was making it’s most recent announcement of its “newest and greatest” products ever) by how little we appreciate how fast technology has changed, is changing, and has come to virtually dominate our lives.  It also occurred to me how INfrequently those changes are of any real importance.  Yes, things do trend towards getting smaller, more efficient, easier (perhaps), and even (possibly) more useful, but I wonder if our lives are really being improved by having a watch which talks to our phone, which talks to our car, which talks to our earbuds, and keeps us in contact with the entire world at all times?  Given the nature of the internet and, especially “social media,” do I REALLY need to know what every one in the world had for breakfast (complete with pictures and “appropriate” music) before I’ve even had a cup of coffee?  I don’t really care all that much about what everybody thinks about the real issues of the day!  After all, why would I think they are, necessarily, any better informed than I am?  Or even as well?  Yes, I am old enough to think that it MIGHT not be a bad thing if I had a tech device which could tell that I was having a stroke, for example, and do something to summon help, but I really DON’T feel a need to be tied for Apple, or Google to monitor my existence at all times of the day & night.  And I can usually find the information I actually need pretty easily, if I really care enough to look it up.  Okay, enough rant for this post.

​Thinking about how technology has changed (and changed us) got me to looking at some of the tech-related stuff I have found over the years which I have found amusing, so I decided to do a post about some of it.  For example, when I first saw this picture, I was struck by the fact that nobody, apparently, had thought of this idea far earlier than when I found this image a couple of years ago.

THAT made the cartoon below even more amusing (at least to me), but this image did advance us towards the Medieval/Renaissance time frame.

Having spent a fair amount of time in libraries, especially while doing research for classes, etc., while I was in school, I have to admit that this next picture did strike home with a certain amount of power.  So, I am NOT unsupportive of the idea that technology CAN make some sorts of things easier and quicker, if not necessarily better.

Still, I do take a bit of offense at the idea that doing things the “old” way, is somehow wrong, silly, or stupid.  I MAY be “old fashioned,” but I’m unconvinced that knowing how to use a card catalog or a paper map is all THAT quaint.  After all, tell me how one can “google” something when the internet is down?  And the notion expressed below simply simply seems to show a lack of historic knowledge and/or interest which I find a bit sad, as well as amusing.

Still, I DO acknowledge that technology HAS changed, much of it for the better.  The picture below gives an indication of how MUCH improvement has been brought in many areas.

Yes, that IS an actual picture of a 5MB hard drive from 1956.  It reminds me of the comment which I believe I read in Creative Computing magazine around 1979-80 (about the time I bought my first personal computer, which was an Apple II+ mostly because it had a printer available which could handle the graphic capabilities I needed for my dissertation).  Anyway, the Creative Computing reviewer seemed to think that it was quite wasteful and needlessly expensive that Apple was shipping this computer with the buyer’s choice of 16, 32, or 48 KB of RAM, AND it was even possible to EXPAND the RAM beyond that (by adding an internal card) to 64KB!  As I remember it, the review said something to the effect of “No one will ever need more than 16KB of RAM.”  I could be remembering this incorrectly and the correct quote COULD have been 48K, but I don’t think so.  In this day, however, when most cell phones have several GB of RAM, even the larger number is laughably small.

​Even with the tremendous increase in RAM, however, most people run into some sort of memory problem at least every so often, which can lead to one of the various forms of the infamous “blue screen of death.”  Here’s one variation I rather like:

If we could only receive THAT notification of a problem, at least on some occasions, it could be that such notices would be at least a bit less frustrating.

​Still, EVERYBODY seems to be fascinated with technology, even though it CAN be fraught with headaches and has, seemingly, done NOTHING to achieve the “paperless” office we were promised back in the ’80’s.  THEN, there are the concerns over privacy and efficiency issues.

There’s also the concern that people are so wrapped up in their “tech” that they seem to have trouble actually functioning in the real world nowadays.  Case in point…

Not EVERYONE seems to be willing to accept this sort of thing as if it were, somehow, either normal, or acceptable.  I find this gives me continuing hope for the future, and I applaud the efforts of the few.  They may be battered, but they are unbowed and that’s a GOOD thing in my opinion.

This is an actual sign in an actual restaurant.  Refreshing, isn’t it?

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
                                                                                        — Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”                                                              ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows