Borg . . . Are we being assimilated?
During the Christmas holidays there were several trips to Costco or the mall.
We've all seen them. It was easy to not notice them at first since they have been among us for a time now. Lately it seems they are everywhere you go. I see them in restaurants, movie theaters, and almost anywhere people gather. They walk the streets around the world with a Borg-like contraption glued to one ear, unaware of red lights, cars, or people. They're on autopilot. They're the new zombies of mobile technology.
I am not quite sure if I am witnessing a Star Trek episode or living in the world described in the nine short stories by Isaac Asimov in “I, Robot”.
Mobile technology is changing human behavior quickly. Once, people talked face-to-face with occasional telephone calls. Now, it's email, cell phones, webinars and voice mail. What happened to us?
When did it become acceptable in our society for people to become so wrapped up in their techno-black hole that the world around them has been erased? Suddenly, topics you would never think of talking about with a complete stranger -- like, say, invasive medical procedures -- are unavoidably in the air all around you without the least pause for appropriateness or social grace. It's disturbing to me as certain conversations are meant to stay private. But they are out there in space being picked up by anyone with the right equipment.
We have moved to non-linear communication, from tactile interactions, involving body language, facial expressions and real-time interactions, to single/multiple channel electronic interactions, where technology determines how we communicate. We are one step further on the evolutionary chain to constant inter-mobile communications. We wander from interactions to transactions, similar to swiping your credit card at the grocery store. We are the new walking zombies with electronic connections to friends and business associates.
The night of the living dead is here and it is we.
By all means, cell phones have become ubiquitous in our society, but the Bluetooth is just shy of having the phone implanted directly in your head. A step closer to being assimilated by the Borg, I’m not real sure but it makes me wonder. It seems to cause the wearer to become even less cognizant of the line between private and public life. And the thing is the equivalent to an ear pocket protector. Perhaps it's a sign that the inner voices inside your head are coming out with a gizmo-assist creeping into your daily verbal discourses. But nobody really wants to hear it. And you look stupid.
Not so long ago, when you saw someone having an audible conversation with themselves with no one around, you knew to step slowly away because you had just accidentally happened into ‘Crazy’ town.
True story: Last week while waiting in line at Costco, the woman in front of me at the cash register said something to the clerk, then turned to me and said, "That's not going to work." Before I could summon a dumbstruck “what-the-hell?” she was gesturing wildly and said, "Yeah, that happened to my son, too. He had to go through a whole battery of tests. They had to go up his anus and it caused bleeding." She never stopped looking directly at me either. Since her Robocop Bluetooth cell phone gizmo was tucked behind the ear under her hair and not in my view, it took me a few stunned seconds to figure out that this woman was not stark raving crazy (well, maybe), she was talking to someone on the phone, loudly in a busy holiday shopping line, about something that seemed, just maybe, quite personal and gross. Everyone around us was staring trying to figure out what was going on with this lady. They were looking at me for some sign but I had nothing for them. It was comical but at the same time surreal.
This is not a diatribe against all technological innovation. I'm writing this on a computer. I carry a cell phone with me at all times and feel a little distressed if I can’t find a wireless connection when I’m on the road working. We live in a modern age and that includes the rapid progression, and sometimes unwelcome encroachment, of gadgets in our lives.
The Bluetooth, according to me, is the funniest invention. First, we walk around talking like zombies and very few people realize that there is a Bluetooth attached to our brain. It looks like you are talking to yourself or complaining to God! Secondly, the blue light that flashes reminds me of the cartoon character who has suddenly gotten this bright idea. Maybe it’s just me and my slightly twisted mindset, but I strongly find it funny and I hopefully will never own one.
If you've walked by any Starbucks lately - - or sauntered down the streets of
Who are these people, who are they talking to? I've thought about these questions and came up with an answer. These Bluetooth-equipped individuals are solitary beings who prefer conversing with people they can't see. I think these Bluetooth wireless headsets are a new fashion statement - - or perhaps, a piece of jewelry - - and I can’t wait for the day when there are “chickens in every pot” as they say and the entire family is wearing these devices slowly being assimilated by the Borg.
What really caused me to post this blog was the other day when one of my PLUMBERS came to my supply house wearing . . . you guessed it . . . a Bluetooth headset. While he took call after call as I tried to get his quote prepared, I wondered if he continuously talked while he ripped out drywall to fix a leak on service calls. I kept wondering how everyone’s hard earned cash was supporting his tech addiction.
Some users wear their headsets on the left ear, some on the right. Is this a sign of left brain/right brain dominance? Is the species using technology to adapt to the dominant hemisphere of the brain? And what will happen when everyone starts wearing Bluetooth headsets on both ears? Stereo sound, for sure, but will the brain's hemispheres converge, changing how neurons fire in the brain?
Oops . . . I think they just got assimilated.
Ice
Comments