7/6/17 Trade Offs
Mid 70s and mostly sunny. Rain is supposed to be on the way.
A woman at my office was going on about how Alexa is a lifesaver for her. She's a new mom and "you just can't understand how great it is to have a hands-free device when you have a kid". I mentioned the fact that the device was probably recording reams of data (assuming you can record a ream since that's normally a measure of paper) for Amazon to sell but she was undeterred. I guess I can relate, just look at how much free information we all give away on social media just to avoid talking to our friends and family or sending letters or cards for occasions? So much easier to type "Happy birthday" on a timeline than it is to send a card or make a phone call. Cheaper too.
To be sure I'm not an old fuddy-duddy sorehead about this stuff. I'm just as guilty as hundreds of millions of other people of hiding in plain sight on social media in exchange for avoiding the tiring interactions that happen when you have to be face to face or even on the phone. I'm just arbitrarily drawing the line at trading the ability to order pizza without picking up the phone or to play music off a computer without typing or tapping screens for an always-on recording of my home life.
As usual I'll be on the wrong side of history with this and future generations will cheerfully exchange their privacy for convenience but bless their hearts, I won't be around to watch the results.
A woman at my office was going on about how Alexa is a lifesaver for her. She's a new mom and "you just can't understand how great it is to have a hands-free device when you have a kid". I mentioned the fact that the device was probably recording reams of data (assuming you can record a ream since that's normally a measure of paper) for Amazon to sell but she was undeterred. I guess I can relate, just look at how much free information we all give away on social media just to avoid talking to our friends and family or sending letters or cards for occasions? So much easier to type "Happy birthday" on a timeline than it is to send a card or make a phone call. Cheaper too.
To be sure I'm not an old fuddy-duddy sorehead about this stuff. I'm just as guilty as hundreds of millions of other people of hiding in plain sight on social media in exchange for avoiding the tiring interactions that happen when you have to be face to face or even on the phone. I'm just arbitrarily drawing the line at trading the ability to order pizza without picking up the phone or to play music off a computer without typing or tapping screens for an always-on recording of my home life.
As usual I'll be on the wrong side of history with this and future generations will cheerfully exchange their privacy for convenience but bless their hearts, I won't be around to watch the results.
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