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Modern Technology I Hate by Michael J. Rayes Quick: Name something practically everyone uses daily, and instead of either loving it or hating it, they both love it and hate it at the same time. The answer is technology. Most of us have experienced the frustration of crashing computers or lost files. Most of us have also marveled at the incomprehensible speed and operation of the Internet. Technology has literally changed the world; like government, as George Washington once said, “it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master.” Modern computer technology has ten traits that I hate. This is not to say that I hate technology absolutely, or that I never use computers. Far from it – I have ten years of Information Technology experience and I still build computer networks as a consultant. Consider the following ten traits as coming from someone inside the industry. 10. Technology creates an artificial generation gap. Until the 20th Century, workmen performed their duties in much the same way their elders did before them. This was especially true before the Industrial Revolution. Even after World War II, elders and their grown children who worked in the same field had much in common. With the advent of personal-computer technology since the 1980s, all this has changed. Today, younger workers do not have much patience for their elders who do not understand personal computers. Because technology is new and ever-changing, younger people are “native” to the tech environment around them. Tech-savvy young adults have less respect for older people who didn’t grow up with the same technology. In the past, every generation of men shared common work experiences, so there was a natural wisdom of the elderly from their years of experience. Computer technology has destroyed this aristocracy of old age. 9. Technology is a means to puff up youth. If I earned a nickel every time someone said, “I don’t even know where the power button is, but these kids can whiz right through it,” I would be a rich man today. The only reason children are better with computers than older adults is because to a child, a chair is a computer is a radio is a Hot Wheels car is a skateboard – they are all toys. Children aren’t afraid to break computers. Adults are. Kids are NOT as smart as you think. Teens are not smarter than you when it comes to computers. They may know more about certain programs and it seems they can whiz around with the mouse faster than you. But you know that a computer is a tool. You know what it is supposed to do; you have experience, you have intelligence, you have authority. You have control over computers; teens do not. Adults have authority; teens have acne. I was an IT Coordinator at a school district not too long ago, and I helped document hacking incidents. How do teens learn about such things? Because they have more time on their hands than you. If you spent an entire work day learning about hacking tools, like Air Crack, key loggers, etc., then you would know as much about hacking as them. 8. Technology is not handled well at the corporate level. Here in Arizona, we have a saying: if you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. In other words, you should have been drinking water on a regular basis because of the heat. Information Technology departments in most corporations are treated like Arizonans treat water: undervalued and unappreciated. IT is routinely called a “cost center,” and is the only department in which the top executive usually has to report to the Chief Financial Officer. Imagine if a vice-president of sales had the CFO as his boss! Rather than calling IT a cost center because it does not contribute directly to the company’s profit, it should be re-commissioned a “value-added center.” Words count. The words we use can change attitudes. Very few companies actually allow their IT departments to be proactive and map a strategy to help the company use technology to achieve its corporate goals. I know several former IT workers who changed careers because they burned themselves out constantly fighting for every tech project and haggling over dollars. Tight money is one thing. That is understandable in some situations, but the lack of respect, understanding, and sometimes the animosity that IT workers receive from executives and other employees – that is something else. Why are IT workers expected to show up on time in the morning if they were there until 10 PM the night before, restoring a server? It is another reason for IT worker burnout. 7. Tech workers must constantly keep up with changing technology. I was a network administrator ten years ago. How much of that set of skills do I use today as network administrator? Practically zero. Things have changed so much – sometimes quickly, sometimes imperceptibly – that what I learned and worked with a decade ago mean nothing today. Some people adapt very well to this ever-changing environment, and even relish it. Not I. Having to learn new technologies is emotionally draining. This is another reason many middle-aged tech workers in America are overweight. They feel like they’ve exercised; but they’ve only exercised their brains. Their bodies sat in chairs all day. There is an ever-present risk of losing one’s IT job because a younger worker knows the newer technology better than you. Imagine a very good plumber who takes a year sabbatical to go travelling. He comes back home and finds that water isn’t carried by pipes anymore, but is forced into the faucet by lasers attached to a holding tank. Plumbers half his age work on the new tank-laser system. Bizarre and unlikely, yes; but it illustrates the problem of IT workers. Yes, things change that much for them. 6. The IT industry introduced the casual workplace. Okay, most people will say, “so what?” But clothes matter. As Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man.” IT workers were the first to lose their neckties. Dress pants for men and dresses for women soon followed. Corporations in America began dress-down Fridays back in the early ‘90s, but now it isn’t uncommon, especially in the southwest and the west coast, to see jeans in the workplace throughout the week. What about professionalism? What about image? Is comfort the only thing that matters? The casual workplace projects a sloppy image; a socialist mediocrity of equality wherein no one excels. Boredom sets in just thinking about it. 5. Consumer technology is very poorly handled. What other products are shipped broken? You don’t need a vacuum tech to set up your new vacuum cleaner. Computer technology is still needlessly complicated. Microsoft and hardware manufacturers have come a long way, but consumer needs still must be met. Why does the computer industry make customers fit its products, rather than creating products that fit the customers? An entire book could be written on just this topic. Suffice it to say that technical support is still an after-thought for most hardware manufacturers, a 20 percent failure rate for retail hardware is outrageous, and the mouse was a horrible invention for the human wrist. 4. Using a personal computer is an inherently anti-social activity. You sit in front of the thing and shut out the world. This is not healthy. Computers create the illusion of communication because of e-mail and instant messaging, but look at the reality: the individual sits alone, in front of a glowing box. God created us as social people; we need each other. We need nature to stimulate our five senses. Turn it off. Go outside and enjoy the sunshine. 3. Computer technology can be addictive. A true story: Last year, a guy in his early 20s actually died because he refused to leave his computer. He played a game for more than 24 hours straight without eating; when he finally stood up and said he didn’t feel good, he collapsed. This is an extreme case, but it illustrates the addictive side of computer technology. Games, chat rooms, and message boards are highly addictive – not to mention online pornography. The same symptoms of alcoholism and other addictions are present in computer addicts: inability to stop, neglect of other duties, minimizing or explaining away the addiction, and withdrawal. 2. Technology is expensive. Yes, computer hardware is less expensive today than a few years ago. Moore’s Law is still the operating principle (smaller, faster, and cheaper). I am not writing about relative costs, but the actual cost and the burden it imposes, especially on working families. Compare the modern lifestyle to the lifestyle of an American family from 1948. Or 1968. Much more money is spent on computers, monitors, printers, cable modems, and satellite or cable TV devices than in the past – because these things didn’t exist for families back then. Therefore technology creates an additional strain on family budgets and is one more reason why mothers have jobs outside the home. 1. Technology separates people from God. Technology is not based on anything real. This is why the word “virtual” is bandied about so much. Technology is not land-based, like farming or housing developments. Personal computers are not heavy, sturdy pieces of quality furniture, like the enormous record-player and radio cabinets from a couple generations ago. Computers use no real pens or pencils. For thousands of years, men wrote with ink and paper: vellum, hemp, linen, whatever. People used elements of God’s creation throughout their day. Wood, metals, textiles, and vegetables were taken directly from the created world. Synthetics were unheard of until the 20th century. God created the world, man worked it – the relationship was clear. Today, communication is so fast, and Moore’s Law provides such an expectation of better technology just around the corner, that the natural relationship between God and man is cloudy to say the least. It’s much easier to forget about God now, when we do not work with His direct creation. One could say that computer technology is an indirect creation of God, since all things come from Him. But that only proves my point. The farther away we get from God’s directly created order, the harder it is to see Him. How do you feel when you watch the sunrise? How do you feel when you finally reach the top of a steep hill? Now, how do you feel when you are sitting inside a building, in front of your computer? Technology separates men from God. Michael J. Rayes writes from Arizona. He is a member of “Generation X” and the author of Bank Robbery!, a children’s mystery book for Catholics, available from Rafka Press. He has ten years of IT experience. To read more great articles from CMQ and to subscribe click here... |
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