In Andrew Keen’s CNN article, he discusses how mobilizing, yet immobilizing, mobile phones have become to the human race as both the power of technology and the power of our dependency grows exponentially.
Personally, I believe myself to be a victim of technology, as I am physically unable to leave a room without my iPhone attached to my hand. I check email, communicate with teachers and peers, contact my family in the northeast, submit homework, use social networking sites, google whatever random topics pop into conversation, and utilize a plethora of other functions of the phone. This seems great in theory—having communication and information at, literally, the palm of my hand, but how does this affect our human capital?
At the Mobile World Congress, there has been much talk about “personal empowerment” via mobile technology, but Keen believes that this is actually personal disempowerment as we rely more and more on external intelligences.
Primarily, cell phones operate via waves. This exposes us to radiation that could be causing cancer. Secondly, our mobile phones act as tracking devices, with bank account information, the ability to “check-in” to locations, and records of emails, conversations, and SMS messages. For those who thought the information the Internet has about them was scary, imagine what would happen if the records of cell phones records were exploited. Product’s such as Apple’s Siri are practically indistinguishable from the human brain, as they express facts, emotions, reasoning, and converse accurately in response to how we prompt them to.
Our mobile devices can provide us with audio entertainment, interactive games, videos, and in the case of Google’s Project Glass, they can alter the world around us in a virtual reality. Keen claims that virtual reality will become so mobile that we will be able to wear it under our skin in the future. At what point do we merge with technology and become one? When do we accept that our mobile devices or computers have become extensions of our brains? How does this affect our brain power?
President Obama presented a “Do Not Track” legislation and the information-collecting practices of major technology companies are being actively investigated.
Keen ends by stating that “All the coercively seductive new products unveiled in Barcelona in the next few days are just phones. They can’t make us younger, richer, more viral, or more intelligent. And they certainly don’t empower us. The real sense of empowerment comes from re-establishing our mastery over our mobile devices.”