Where the cellphone was originally a pager, a device to take more hours from workers without paying for them, it has now become a ubiquitous 'tool' and people have taken the belief their lives would be diminished without them. I can see the end result of that here in Greece where it's not so uncommon to see someone riding a motor scooter and controlling it with one hand while the other is holding a cellphone to the rider's ear. The concern is not so much the obvious stupidity of riding these vehicles in that way but rather the diminishment of perception in a much larger sense. Rather than opening people to a wider vision, in fact the cellphone is narrowing it insofar as the rider can see the scooters and cars around him but certainly nothing else.
One of the most destructive aspects of cellphones is how they have further turned the American work force and in turn the world's work force into ant colonies which are available at a moment's notice at any time of the day or night. Vacation time becomes irrelevant as there is hardly anywhere out of range of a modern cellphone. The value of a worker's free time has plummeted because of these devices and there hasn't been any parallel increase in salaries, quite the opposite in fact.
The same narrowing of perception can be seen the preoccupation with friends in people who spend inordinate amounts of their time texting each other. Their perception is similarly narrowed as they become only peripherally aware of their current situations due to the, seemingly, overwhelming call to 'stay in touch.' In fact, the opposite is true as they are not in touch very much at all with their surroundings.
Google Glass represents yet another extension which, on the surface, appears to offer all manner of utility. Google gives, with Apple elegance, a summary of what Google Glass can do. The relatively trivial functions it offers are mildly interesting but the reality is most users will probably use the device to stay connected with social networks, further increasing their enslavement to the goal of 'staying in touch.' If there is any more trivial and featureless endeavour than spending one's time endlessly connected to Facebook, it would be extremely difficult to discover.
Moreover, there is a larger enslavement inherent in Google Glass as it further extends the idea of a need to stay endlessly connected to the network at all. One is powerless, helpless, and probably useless without your 'brother' at your side at all times. That your 'brother' is not helping you see but rather is limiting your vision is not under consideration at all.
Google Glass - Great for ant colonies but not at all good for human beings. Welcome to the Matrix.
One of the most destructive aspects of cellphones is how they have further turned the American work force and in turn the world's work force into ant colonies which are available at a moment's notice at any time of the day or night. Vacation time becomes irrelevant as there is hardly anywhere out of range of a modern cellphone. The value of a worker's free time has plummeted because of these devices and there hasn't been any parallel increase in salaries, quite the opposite in fact.
The same narrowing of perception can be seen the preoccupation with friends in people who spend inordinate amounts of their time texting each other. Their perception is similarly narrowed as they become only peripherally aware of their current situations due to the, seemingly, overwhelming call to 'stay in touch.' In fact, the opposite is true as they are not in touch very much at all with their surroundings.
Google Glass represents yet another extension which, on the surface, appears to offer all manner of utility. Google gives, with Apple elegance, a summary of what Google Glass can do. The relatively trivial functions it offers are mildly interesting but the reality is most users will probably use the device to stay connected with social networks, further increasing their enslavement to the goal of 'staying in touch.' If there is any more trivial and featureless endeavour than spending one's time endlessly connected to Facebook, it would be extremely difficult to discover.
Moreover, there is a larger enslavement inherent in Google Glass as it further extends the idea of a need to stay endlessly connected to the network at all. One is powerless, helpless, and probably useless without your 'brother' at your side at all times. That your 'brother' is not helping you see but rather is limiting your vision is not under consideration at all.
Google Glass - Great for ant colonies but not at all good for human beings. Welcome to the Matrix.
6 comments:
Hourly employees are not required to answer thier employers phone calls. And can even clock.in for time spent discussing work on thier phone away from work.
As a manager they can send out mass communucation texts saving time over previous methods.
As with any tool it is up to the user how it is applied.
Employers will always find the easiest way to contact employees in times of need
I remember when you as a programmer had people knock.on your door to shorten your off time and respond to the drama of the moment
So it is never the tool it is how it is used
guns are just tools. But were used by 19000 people last year to end thier lives. that is just in this country. And just suicides.
Not the tools fault
My problem is that employers started requiring employees to carry tools such as pagers and cellphones but they did not provide any compensation for doing it. As you said, any contact from an employer will be for the 'drama of the moment,' most of which were pretty trivial but data processing managers have to make a big deal out of things to make it look like they serve a function. That costs me time but they damn sure never paid for it. Prior to that time, if I were away from home then I was untouchable but these demonic tools sure changed that.
While a gun is not at fault in a suicide, they make the 'task' one hell of a lot easier and it's been shown where gun control was enacted the suicide rate went down. Guns just make it way too damn easy. A determined suicide will find another way but some percentage are reacting to the moment (e.g. caught the current love of life cheating, etc) as opposed to being driven by clinical depression, etc. Those ones will reconsider and there are plenty of statistics to prove that.
Further, you're a lot more rational about all of this than many others. You don't waste time on social networks and you don't spend any more time on a telephone than is necessary to accomplish what is necessary. In this modern electronic wasteland, that's highly unusual!
i spend a lot of time on social networks. i just dont use phones or computers to do it. There have been multiple lawsuits to ensure employees are compenstated for time soent solving issues during off time on not being abkw to deduct vacation days if they solved issues while on vacation
Not exactly sure what you mean about social networks but it doesn't sound like Facebook, etc. From my own experience with the bank, nothing was ever really compensated. They would talk about 'making things whole' after wrecking a vacation but it never really worked as they would go straight back into the hole again with yet the newest flavor of drama to suck yet more of your time. I'm not really bitter about it except insofar as I am annoyed with myself for not doing whatever it took to get out of it sooner.
social network. used to involve multiple people in the same room at the same time. It is the only social network that i know.
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