The Blog for Thinkers Who Display Common Sense

Ever wonder what people are thinking when they make a business, economical, political, or personal decision? I do. I was raised to have simple common sense. This blog is dedicated to the common sense thinkers of the world. We are a dying breed!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Technology: PDA to Ipad, What's Next?

I remember when the first PDAs hit the market. Their purpose was simple. They were a useful tool to organize your life. Basically, they were the modern version of those big, bulky day planners we all carried in our over sized briefcases. Most still relied on the information you entered using the touch screen or a stylus. A stylus is a lead-less pencil, whoever invented that thing is living large. Back to original subject. PDAs were very popular until our telephones started to organize our lives. Now, we didn't have to plug-in to download our activities, we simply found a hot-spot or Wi-Fi connection and we could send updates and information to anyone and anywhere. First was the Blackberry, original name as I really like the fruit, but the gadget, not so much. Who has stylus shaped fingers? Those keys were causing carpel tunnel and people to become cross-eyed staring at that small screen. The important people would refer to this thing as their private secretary. It was almost a status symbol. Oh yes sir, I see you have a Blackberry, please let me upgrade you to first class. Give me a break! Drum roll please. Enter the "smart" phone. Social media and blogs have now replaced friends meeting over coffee and community groups discussing issues face to face. We have entered an age of loneliness. We chat online with friends instead of making time to get together and share. Now, if we got together with our friends and used these forums to entertain and inform each other, I believe our relationships would be stronger. Ok, back to subject. I apologize, I tend to float off of point. Where were we? Oh yeah, I remember. Smartphones are in most cases smarter than their owners. I own one and I can not even scratch the surface of what this thing is capable of doing. Finally, we have the Ipad. Recently, a friend commented to me about her Ipad. She stated that this little thing, a little larger than a standard envelope, has all of her information stored. I asked what she considered all. I was blown away. Credit card numbers, account information, passwords, bank account numbers, account balances, birth dates and addresses for her entire family, social "security" numbers, of course her home address, pictures of her favorite memories, all of her music files, all of her letters and emails and word documents were on this Ipad. As she was telling me all these wonderful uses and tools this thing is capable, I realized that we as a society are urging technological companies to push the boundaries even further every day. I can't tell you how upset I would be if someone stole her Ipad and was able to get to all of that personal information for criminal gain. We now carry all of this personal information where ever we go, just tempting a crook to steal it. We show off our Apps and videos we discover and never give a thought of who may be targeting us at the next booth in a restaurant. Where has our privacy gone? Security of personal information has become less of a priority. I guess if you willingly put your private information on any device, you have considered and are satisfied with the possible outcomes of doing such. What's next? All of our lives are spread out on the web for all to see. If technology can replace our own brains, what's keeping it from replacing us? Thank God for dead-spots! Those people who can't connect to the internet are very fortunate as they are less likely to suffer from the hands of our own creations.

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