Digital Life

by David Holtzman

borg.jpg
Far too much of my life is stored on my computers. It used to be work stuff like appointments, contacts, documents and presentations. Now it includes photographs and emails, video and music. Even more importantly, computers in general have become my extended memory. I can remember where I was on a given day by checking my Palm, in fact, it's gotten to the point where I can't figure out what I was doing if it's not on the computer.

I don't even bother to print photos anymore, I just make sure that I have a decent monitor nearby. I have to perfectly good Sony CD changers in my stereo cabinet that haven't been touched in months because I have my iPod rigged up to my sound system.

Sure I'm susceptible to computer glitches now on a personal level and backup being as hard to use as it is, I get burned once a while. I am more susceptible to privacy violations now. If someone gets their hands on my computer, I lose a lot more than a couple of video games.

Where's this all going? The big problem I think, is the undue dependency that we have when we move over to a completely digital life. I couldn't move back now if I tried. If I know that I can find something, I don't memorize it. Once I got a GPS, I stopped trying to remember directions, for example.

Good search makes it even worse. If I know how to find something on the web, I don't even save a link anymore, let alone the actual document...I just remember the search that I've used.

One big advantage is that I don't have to remember as much. A search term is a lot less information than the whole document. Knowing how to type in a Mapquest query is more efficient than storing a lot of directions.

I do worry though what happens if all of this digital memory gets zapped somehow. I wonder what the younger generation will experience, since they're growing up digital. I imagine that eventually they'll be able to interface directly with solid-state storage somehow.

Posted on June 09, 2006

1 Comment
Technology

One big advantage is that I don't have to remember as much.

That's helpful, for sure -- but I am a bit old fashioned in that I prefer to still "do" for myself in many cases. I've got tons of phone numbers stored in my cellphone, but if it's someone I call frequently, more often than not, I still dial them instead of using the phonebook. I guess I still like exercising the old brain now and then...

And to keep track of things, to-do lists, and "one-time-meeting" schedules, nothing beats a 3x5" index card. :) Although that's more of a force-of-habit thing for me coupled with the fact that index cards are easily shoved into pockets, car visors, and such without the risk of breaking.

I do worry though what happens if all of this digital memory gets zapped somehow. I wonder what the younger generation will experience, since they're growing up digital.

Indeed. Remember 10 years ago when 'old folks' got torked that a cashier couldn't make change if the register was broken? I daresay it's only gotten worse as the result of the "instant gratification" and "always on demand" nature of the Internet Age. For better or worse -- but it's a very present problem and, IMO, a real danger for society going forward.

...did you ever think I'd be such a Luddite? *ducks*

Posted by Rick F on June 9, 2006

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