I’ve written before about how technology has a habit of de-skilling us. For instance, I find it almost impossible to navigate without a GPS device these days. I also think I know my way round Silicon Valley from the half dozen trips I make every year (without GPS) better than I know my way around Munich, where I live (with GPS). Well, I live there some of the time.
But it struck me last night that the only phone numbers I have memorised these days are the ones I give out to other people - my own landlines and mobile numbers. I don’t know the office number, work colleagues’, my parents’, or even my wife’s and kids’ mobile numbers.
Neither do I know people’s email addresses or snail mail ones either - mainly as I don’t snail mail anyone these days apart from the odd post card or Christmas card.
So, supposing I’m on holiday - driving around the US, as an example, with my family. I lose my mobile phone one day - these things happen. Not a huge problem, as I’m on holiday, after all. A few days later, we go shopping and my wife drops me off at a bookstore before going off to park the car and fails to turn up at the agreed rendezvous a few hours later.
After 1/2 an hour or so, I seriously begin to worry as it slowly dawns on me that I have no way of getting in contact. I can’t ring her, as I don’t know her number. I think of our respective sets of parents, but a quick investigation reveals that they are all ex-directory - they are actually, this isn’t a convenient scenario. We’re on a driving holiday, so I can’t go back to the hotel….
I’m sure that we’d eventually manage to hook up somehow, but it may have to be something as melodramatic as going to the police.
You could argue that much the same situation would have happened pre-mobile. But it wouldn’t and didn’t. Apart from the fact that I’d know the various parents’ phone numbers by heart, we would have had a back up plan. We’d have specifically agreed what to do and where we’d meet if we missed each other.
But the back up plan has long been abandoned by all but the most paranoid. After all, we have our mobiles, why would we need to specifically arrange something?
The problem with technology is that you become dependent upon it and if it ever disappears for a reason as mundane as a lost mobile phone to something as dramatic as a terrorist attack on the infrastructure of the internet, we’re suddenly paralysed as individuals or as a society.
So, what am I going to do about it? Like you, nothing at all, I suspect.
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I still have problems with German grammar (and always will, I fear) but I can remember most of my old phone numbers, car registration plates, UK postcodes and bank account numbers. We were Mundford 464 in the early 70s…
Great points. I recommend checking out Don Norman’s new book (The Design of Future Things) — he talks about issues like this.
Too often, systems are over-automated, which makes users become complacent and inattentive, so they effectively become de-skilled, like you say. A good design needs to keep the human in the loop so they stay informed and engaged with the system and are better able to take control when the system fails. An example Norman cites is airline pilots — make the autopilot system too good and pilots will fall asleep.
With respect to phones and email, maybe it would help if these systems didn’t hide so much information. Phones usually display a contact’s name and number on the screen but nobody looks at that; maybe they should also recite the number before each call. Our ‘advanced’ email programs hide email addresses of contacts — they shouldn’t.
Interesting observation Russell. My parents still keep a nicely hand written “phone list” (using pencil btw) of all their relatives right next to their phone (land line).
That’s pretty old fashion I’d say.
My smartphone’s backed up through mobical.net, so I could go into any place that has web-access and look all the numbers up.
I think about this all the time, but have a small comfort in that everything is backed-up in plaxo should I lose my phone (I synch my phone and outlook at least once a day so even fairly new stuff info is always available online should I need it.) In this scenario I would only need to find a web enabled computer (or use one of my other webenabled devices) to find my wife’s number and call or sms.
Instead of remorsing over the effect of technology on our ability to remember numbers and addresses, should we not look forward to the day when technology will remove the need for us to remember impossible hexodecimal combinations to begin with? We should touch a button on our vest and say “computer, contact my wife and tell her she’s late.” Start-trek had it right.
Miguel - thanks for the comment. I’m not really “remorsing”, just pointing out that there’s two sides to technology advances.
Russell
It’s always a discussion about technology inside and technology use. Before one would have to know the way the car motor works, now the technology has made it impossible to really work yourself on a car motor; instead there are some neat sensing devices that warn you of a technical problem in the car, and in the meantime you enjoy driving.
I would worry the day that technology would start playing around with time and our sunlight, and if we would turn out all in industrial chickens in a huge chicken farm, with no way to know whether it is day or nigth outside; But don’t we fly down to Florida to get more sun too? What if technology would provide us a Florida in my garage…food for thought