What Hath Jobs Wrought: “They need to stop with the iPods”
From the video blog I Hate Young People, I found the above clip that consists of people talking about cell phones and their hatred/fear of technology (epitomized by the woman who says “Just because it’s new doesn’t make it better”). While being pretty funny, I also think it goes to show just how wary people are of new things and change in general, and I bet that — a hundred years ago — you would have received the same reactions in terms of people talking about horseless carriages and the telephone. And, of course, you hear people talk like this in the “future of the book” debate, decrying things like electronic reading devices or portable gadgets, saying no one will want to “curl up” with computers. The subtext in both discussions is a general fear of the new, and a desire to always have things remain the same. However, as we all know, the only thing that remains the same is the fact that things will indeed always change. So, like it or not, technology is here to stay.
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It’s really simplistic to say that it is only fear that makes people wary of new technology. Some people believe in self-control, believe in reigning in consumerist desires. Why do so many people need to OWN every new, shiny gadget? Also, it’s not fear that makes people prefer curling up to a good book rather than an electronic device–it’s an aesthetic choice. So, you are leaving out aesthetics and anti-consumerism in your reasoning. Neither of which are tied to fear or age.
You make some good points, but of course fear cuts both ways. The fear of change I mentioned is also related to the fear of not having the latest gadget. And aesthetics is the same; some people think a book is a great piece of technology, while others think the same about an iPhone.
I think the iphone is great technology-it’s pretty and shiny– but ultimately not necessary to my life. I NEVER wanted a cell phone in the first place-in fact… I despise my cell phone. I FOUGHT having one for as long as possible. I don’t WANT to be available all of the time. It does not improve the quality of my life. I am forced to have a cell phone to be competitive in my career. Because of my cell phone and the internet, I’m basically working ALL the time. Yay technology.
It may not be useful to work the fear trope. How can fear of change, or even fear of stasis, get us anywhere? Come to think of it, fear of stasis may actually be motivating screen reading advocates.
The first readable screen was the night sky, points of light on a black field. Observers of the night sky began to construe patterns, then omens and cosmographies and astrophysics based on readings of the night sky. Screens still work best in the dark and provide a whole domain of reading. Other reading surfaces work better in reflected light.
Screen reading advocates fear the stasis of continuities of bionic reading. They fear that there may be no particular linkage, or supercession scenario, between different reading modes. Most particularly they fear that there may be persistent exclusive attributes and disattributes in any reading mode that has been around for a long time.