Return to the archive index

Re: Cyborgs

Roland Orre wrote:
> 
> "Thor Harald Johansen" <> wrote:
> > My father dislikes the thought of wearable computers. He thinks it's kind
> > of eery. He doesn't like the way I think about wearables. What should I
> > tell him? I've got a good feeling these computers will be quite common in
> > a few years.
> 
> I think you should tell your father that he does not need to like these
> computers and no one will force him to use them, in the same way as he
> should respect those people who want this technology. No human being
> can say what is right or wrong here. There may be many reasons why a
> person is scared of new technology and it will probably always be so.
> 
> If your father is a religious person who think that we should not use
> technology that we were not meant to be using, ask him about a place
> in the bible (or corresponding book) where this is explicitly stated
> and what technology we were meant to be using.
> 
> If your father is a Star Trek fan he may be scared by the Borg scenario
> as he does not want to be assimilated. As long as we human beeings are
> deciding what technology we should develop and how to use this technology
> we can also avoid assimilation.
> 
> The wearable computer is a natural continuation of our whishes to
> become able to communicate and utilize the gold mines of information
> which our society provides and thus also provides a tool which will
> help equalize peoples abilities in a similar manner that for instance
> the world wide web has started to do.
> 
> I guess your father already reads books, uses telephones, listens to radio,
> watch TV, wear glasses and he may also be surfing the net and use a mobile.
> 
> There are already wearable computers out there which help blind people see,
> and some people with a bad heart that can now take part of real life (the
> wearable defillibrator) etc.
> 
> The wearable computer creates freedom for people. The wearable
> computer may help you compensate for your own limitations, like a bad
> memory (remembrance agents) or dyslexia (wearcam with ocr) (speech to
> text synthesis), chemical unbalance by assisting your hormone
> production, etc.. Whoever you are, whereever you go, whatever you do,
> you will be able to communicate, be social, take part of information
> or be part of an individual educational programme, but you will always
> choose by your own when to be on or off line. When you want to focus
> your social awareness on the people around you, you simply take your
> equipment off, like when you switch your mobile telephone off today
> when watching movies, attending meetings or make love.
> 
> It may also be that your father does not simply understand the
> technology and how this will affect the human beings and the society.
> Then ask him to consider any of the technical developments which are
> ubiquitously awailable today like engines, telephone, computers,
> electricity etc. and ask him if he really wants a society without them,
> just because their effect on the society could not be predicted at
> the time they were invented.
> 
> For my own I have waited for this technology to become available for
> decades but I would not dream about casuing someone to use this
> technology against their own will. The decision to use the technology
> or not should be up to the individual.
> 
>         Best regards
>         Roland Orre
> 
> -------------------------------------
> There is an 86% chance that I dislike your OS but I fight your right
> to use it by 100 %.

Not to correct you on your already wonderfully written letter, but, you
mentioned glasses but left out hearing aids.

Personally, I wear two. They are a small transmitter and receiver, and
they are controlled by my remote control to digitally filter and enhance
sounds when I need to (noisy crowds, filter a small child's squeals out,
etc...). You actually plug these into a computer to program them and
gather statitics or their use. A highly special porpose device, but,
never-the-less you do interact with these devices, they respond based on
how they where programmed to provide the information you need.
On the other hand, the older model/style of hearing aids are just a dumb
box that amplifies sounds, nothing more. Therefore this may had been why
you didnt mention hearing aids.

Just my $0.02

Regards,
Gregg Berkholtz

--
Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of
"subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" to 
Wear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org

From Wear-Hard Mailing list Archive (WH)
Maintained by R. Paul McCarty

Archive created with babymail