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People and society by
Hari
Posted on Thu, Oct 26, 2006 at 17:03 IST (last updated: Wed, Jul 16, 2008 @ 21:15 IST)
I belong to a previous generation of computer users who actually attended training courses to learn the basics of computers. Back in the early 90s, computers were still a novelty for most of us and owning a PC was a matter of immense prestige. The course I attended taught MS-DOS, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase and the basics of file and directory manipulation. They conducted tests at the end and participants were given a certificate. The fact was that in those days, we used to see the computer as a special device that required a certain set of basic skills to operate. And accordingly, we never had a problem adapting to the rapid technology changes as they occurred simply because we were thorough in the fundamentals. School was also a great place to learn - we were taught computer languages from BASIC to Pascal and finally C. We didn't fiddle about with fancy GUIs or use the computer to play games. In fact, our school computers those days were equipped with the bare minimums - the Operating System (usually Novell Netware) and the compilers/IDE (Turbo Pascal and Turbo C++). As students, we didn't treat the device as a plaything but as a learning tool.
Today, computers are so familiar they breed contempt. Today's generation of youngsters grow up on a steady diet of eye-candy and 3d shooters. Kids are exposed to so much more at such an early age. This is the generation of gadget buffs. The explosion of consumer electronics has pretty much ensured the availability of cheaper and even more powerful devices for every household. But are we really more empowered?
The point I'm making is that today we are far more tech savvy than we were a couple of decades ago. But that hasn't necessarily made us more educated or empowered. Sure, everybody knows how to operate an iPod, but is that really a case of being empowered? More people use computers today, but how many of them really know the fundamentals? Do people really bother to find out what makes 64-bit computing better than 32-bit computing? Is it just a case of being impressed by all those fancy jargon? And more to the point, how many really care about what happens under the hood of all those cool gadgets they flaunt around? People mistakenly refer to themselves as "geeks" when they really should refer to themselves as "gadget-buffs". For that's exactly what they are. In the face of the smallest problem, they choose to throw away good stuff rather than getting them fixed. Devices have become smaller and smaller, but also more fragile than ever before.
Of course, it can be argued that people do not have to know their technology to use them. This is precisely why huge consumer electronic giants like Sony continue to prosper. They would rather have a generation of gadget buffs who fall for fancy jargons and colourful packaging rather than a bunch of people who understand how stuff really works. More to the point, they don't want a generation of people who can differentiate between useful really technology and meaningless hype. They don't want customers who are empowered to probe behind the constant cycle of technology upgrades which keep forcing people to throw away perfectly useful stuff just because it's become "outdated." They don't want people who will rebel against restrictions placed on fair-use... hell, they don't even want people who will understand the meaning of the term "fair use." They just want people who are addicted to buying the latest and greatest technology without considering anything other than their desire for instant gratification.
Maybe the answer lies in the fact that the previous generation grew up with the technology and was in a better position to assess its merits as it evolved. Today's generation has reaped the full benefit of the semiconductor revolution but never really saw its development and growth. So everybody wants a computer that works, but most don't want to ask how it works in the first place.
Oh, for sure, the common man today is now much more tech-savvy than a few decades ago... but tech-empowered? Not really.
2 comment(s)
Comment by Sudipta Chatterjee (visitor) on Sun, Oct 29, 2006 @ 05:35 IST #
Comment by hari (blog owner) on Sun, Oct 29, 2006 @ 11:37 IST #