Today's muse, it will probably seem so obvious looking back, in 50 or 100 years.
Snapshot 1:
Our 23 year old niece was excitedly showing us her Apple Ipod Touch yesterday, with its iPhone like interface, but she said proudly, its not a phone! It uses any local wi fi signal to hook up to the internet.
Snapshot 2:
Our 16 year old nephew is staying with us for a few days, we of course have wi fi and 2 (only) computers in the house, one notebook and an old desktop. I have offered him use of the computers a number of times, but he seems uninterested..strange. Yesterday, while his cousin was showing him, and us, her iPod Touch, he mentioned that he has an iPhone, though he appears to be fairly careful not to show it to us, as in, I have yet to see it during his entire stay with us, interesting that.
A couple of observations. First, and perhaps most obvious, technology is becoming highly transparent, and often, intensely personal. It is becoming our second skin, and drifting quickly into our subconscious. Of course a 16 year old would not want to share anything so personal as his connections with older adults, isn't it obvious? Perhaps not so obvious, as "technology" fades into unconscious, it can only be a matter of time, perhaps much sooner than we think, where brain waves begin to control these devices rather than fingers. It will feel pretty safe as long as brain waves are used to "simply" control the UI. But when other brain waves starting coming down the pipe, watchout.
Snapshot 1:
Our 23 year old niece was excitedly showing us her Apple Ipod Touch yesterday, with its iPhone like interface, but she said proudly, its not a phone! It uses any local wi fi signal to hook up to the internet.
Snapshot 2:
Our 16 year old nephew is staying with us for a few days, we of course have wi fi and 2 (only) computers in the house, one notebook and an old desktop. I have offered him use of the computers a number of times, but he seems uninterested..strange. Yesterday, while his cousin was showing him, and us, her iPod Touch, he mentioned that he has an iPhone, though he appears to be fairly careful not to show it to us, as in, I have yet to see it during his entire stay with us, interesting that.
A couple of observations. First, and perhaps most obvious, technology is becoming highly transparent, and often, intensely personal. It is becoming our second skin, and drifting quickly into our subconscious. Of course a 16 year old would not want to share anything so personal as his connections with older adults, isn't it obvious? Perhaps not so obvious, as "technology" fades into unconscious, it can only be a matter of time, perhaps much sooner than we think, where brain waves begin to control these devices rather than fingers. It will feel pretty safe as long as brain waves are used to "simply" control the UI. But when other brain waves starting coming down the pipe, watchout.
