« RSS Feeds Coming from KSL | Main | Stanley Sadie, musical scholar and editor of the New Grove, dies »
March 22, 2005
A debate about personal technologies and societal impact
In this week's New York Times Magazine, there is a very interesting essay by Christine Rosen about how personal technologies such as cellphones and TiVo have changed perceptions of the manners of public life. She makes a comparison to the 19th century Industrial Revolution, in which machines prompted concern about the effects of dehumanizing the individual. This industrialization was the basis of Karl Marx's writings. Today's personal technologies, on the other hand, have not caused similar worries, according to Rosen.
The author proceeds to discuss commonly observed rude behavior, and how placing a cellphone call (or taking a cellphone call in public) "instantly transforms the strangers around you into unwilling listeners who must cede to your use of the public space, a decidedly undemocratic effect for so democratic a technology." She also describes the "publicization of emotional fulfillment"--answering the phone and entering into conversation informs everyone around that we are in demand by others--a kind of public security blanket.
Ms. Rosen concludes with an observation about the need to engage in debate about how these personal technologies can lead to collective societal problems. She makes the example of how in the debates about abortion and Social Security, claims of the individual good are made over others. How is our overall quality of life affected if the bombardment by others' phone calls makes our lives miserable? Maybe we would be better off just to turn the phones off.
In the interest of full disclosure, the Kelvin Smith Library has articulated a policy of no cell phone use in the library except outside the security gate in the main lobby. Library users are encouraged to request that others ignoring this policy move outside study and stack areas. We value your ability to study and work in a quiet environment.
Posted by tdr at March 22, 2005 07:18 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.case.edu/tdr/mt-tb.cgi/834