Technology, But at What Cost?
Laura Peters, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 8/1/2001
 |
So technology and business were still on my mind as I headed back to San Francisco to enjoy a few days of relaxation with friends. It was then that an unexpected thing happened. I was dozing in the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car on I-880 when the car suddenly smashed into the small truck in front of us. I was tossed forward but not injured, thankfully, and, as it turned out, the drivers of the two vehicles were shaken but uninjured. My immediate reaction was to ask the driver if he was hurt. He said he was, but he also was very upset by the damage to his truck, and he mumbled some words of disgust. You see, he already had called 911 on his wireless handset while I, still somewhat reeling, had gotten out of the car and walked over to the truck to make sure the gentleman was OK.
After I was able to regroup and calm down a little, I sensed something disturbing. The driver had never, within those few minutes or in the next half hour, asked how I was doing. Clearly the 911 attendant on the other end of the line had made such inquiries, and my driver replied that nobody was hurt — again, without actually asking me for my input.
This incident illustrated an important lesson about technology's role in our lives. Technology is great when it works, and we clearly rely on it in many instances. Here, the phone call got the police to the scene within 15 minutes. But, instinctively, my mind was focused on making sure everyone involved was not hurt, and that we could safely pull the damaged cars over to the side of the road across three lanes of traffic. I was less worried about getting the cars fixed and contacting the insurance companies.
We're social beings. We don't want technology, however wonderful, to be divorced from will and intention, especially since the application of technology can inhibit our social network. So where do we take our technology from here without losing the communication skills we have?
Increasingly, we are sending more e-mails than having telephone conversations. Each mode of communication has its place, and we have to determine what that place is. E-mail communications can easily be misinterpreted; they are wonderful for confirming a meeting and distributing certain information, but not as good at helping us work out problems — because e-mail cannot (yet) enable a conversation or truly interactive exchange. Fortunately, we can employ cell phone technology to resolve issues faster, which is why so many of us carry these beeping, ringing, vibrating tools at our sides.
As new technologies evolve and we find more ways to use semiconductors in our everyday working and personal lives, let's keep in mind that technology cannot direct us very well, though it is capable of performing a remarkable and increasing number of tasks. Let's not spend our best hours of the day sorting through e-mail messages when we could be better directing our businesses and increasing the efficiency of our facilities and operations. We are the masters; technology is the tool.
Today, we can barely fathom what new technologies will become available in even the next five years. But no matter how good the tools get, someone has to program them, someone has to identify the best applications and someone has to engineer the user interface. We won't get there safely unless we keep in mind who is driving the vehicle, where we need to go and how best we're going to get there.
What do you think? Please let us know.
