Media Over-Stimulation and the need to return to the simple

As I write this on my new MacBook Pro. With my Ipod Attached to my head. Utilizing FREE wifi here at the Laundry Mat (my dryer is broken) It reminds me of the barrage of technology we are all facing. It is everywhere. If you have not noticed this then you wouldn’t be reading my blog because you wouldn’t know how to use search engines, et’ all.

The reality is that I’m a little anti social at times. When I workout I don’t want to chat with people. The IPOD gives me the freedom to tune out the world. I’ll even leave my headphones on when the battery dies. When I’m home sometimes the “work” I’m doing on the internet and the social media that I’m participating in are an excuse for why I “can’t” play with my kids. We are overloaded and over stimulated with this stuff. It gets cooler,more amazing, and fantastic every day. Some new gadget or OS comes out that takes away more of our humanity and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

On the one hand I like how some of these technologies makes our life easier. On the other I miss the world where we used to know our neighbors, and everyone had a front porch, and where we had under 20 TV channels. Though, to get back to that would require moving to a deserted island. Once Pandora’s Box is opened its almost impossible to get the monster back in it’s cage. Just look at our government.

I recently made the switch back to Mac after years on PC. I was just plain fed up with the viruses and nonsense that was a daily frustration with Windows. Being that the hardware is all the same now (intel based chips, etc) I figured I’d give Apple a go. So far I am trilled with the experience. I had been on Linux, in a feat of rebellion. But Linux is where mac was about 10 years ago. I loved Linux…but having to Boot into Windows every time I needed to work on a Photo or Video project was annoying.

I mention that segue because the technology is out pacing us. I do website design and coach my clients and others on how to use social media platforms like Facebook & Twitter and how to automate their activities and save time. I’m always meeting new people that are very adept at sending Emails and even some of the Blogging. But when it comes to this newer tech they are at a loss as to how they should use any of it. The technology behind these platforms (php,wordpress,java,joomla,ajax,silverlight,etc) are a mystery at times, even to people like myself who are immersed in it almost daily.

Look at an engine in a car as an example. Imagine that some new widget powered car came along. No longer the same technology and not only that but this new tech is so far advanced that there is no way your mechanic can know more than one aspect of it’s performance. So he begins to specialize in only ONE aspect of the engine. He chooses the Electrical system. Now instead of visiting your mechanic who could just about fix anything you have to visit 4 or 5 shops to get the work done…That is specialization. It is also an outgrowth of the fact that tech is outpacing us.

It is that outpacing that has allowed us to move from supercomputers that filled a building to desktop units that are just as powerful.

So where do you think this is all taking us? What do you see as the next quantum leap in technology? and where do you see it helping or hurting our humanity?