Some Sapien picks up a phone

The phone has to be the worlds greatest invention.

The ability to pick up a device in one part of the world and communicate to with a person in another part of the world instantaneously, is nothing short of miraculous. The concept of the phone has evolved into a data collection, storage and transmission device that renders other devices redundant or accessories to the phone. What is the next step in the evolution of the phone?

Sure, two way radio and the telegraph preceded the telephone. However only the phone requires no extensive training or technical knowledge and the equipment required to make a phone call ( from the end user's prospective) is relatively cheap and simple to use.

With the advent of the cell phone, phones have become untethered from the infrastructure that supports them. Cell phones are also small and light enough to carry around with us like a wallet or a purse. It won't be long before they actually replace wallets. Purses will take longer to replace for reasons I won't get into.

What I'm getting at is that the phone has evolved into an everything device. It's a still camera, a video camera, a mini-computer, a GPS locator, a game machine ... and on and on and on. You can't eat a cell phone but it won't be long before biodegradable devices are created. Many people have even given up the "land line" since a cell phone effectively eliminates the need for one, even for connecting to the Internet with a computer.

Speaking of the Internet the advent of VOIP technology has created a kind of infrastructure war between, Land Line companies, Wireless Companies and Cable companies. With the coming of 3G and WiMAX all of the players will end up sleeping with the enemy.

The phone is now not a tethered object locked to a specific geographic location, but has become an essential portable device required for the efficient functioning of society. The phone and the cell phone number have now become part of the person. Soon, the person an the phone must merge and the first cyborgs will be made.

In the near future it will not be genetic engineering that will be the most controversial debate topic but whether or not to allow the embedding of cell phone technology in the human body.

Teenagers will no longer be begging for piercings or tattoos, but for the best embedded phones available.

The technology will be called Telepath-e.

Some Sapien hears a Twitter

A phenomenon I've noticed developing the last 5 or 10 years has been the total deconstruction of traditional privacy standards. This is ironic since at the same time personal information has become more valuable.

That is, we are willing to give away personal information for the equivalent of a stick of chewing gum, while the entity requesting the information is making allot of money by selling or using the information.

Perhaps it was the invention of reality shows like Big Brother or House that initiated this phenomenon. These shows are based on the absolute elimination of privacy. Basically, turning people into goldfish. The viewing, voyeuristic public has become desensitized to this paradigm. We celebrate and celebratize the participants of these reality shows. It then becomes cool to give away your privacy. In fact you are un-cool if you don't.

Celebrities often have to live with a reduced expectation of privacy... in the legal sense. However Internet Celebrities must by default give up their privacy in order to gain or maintain their status.

What is amazing to me is how many non-celebrities are willing to give up their privacy in order to become part of the aquarium that is the Word Wide Web. It originated with personal web pages that evolved into social networking sites. Then there was IRC or Internet Relay Chat which has evolved into twitter.

So now, we feel obligated to disclose the intimate details of our lives on the equivalent of a billboard for any passerby to peruse. Sure, there are privacy setting and restricted sharing settings, but the whole medium implies sharing with somebody.

One could argue that this sharing is bringing the world a little closer together. This sharing feeds a better understanding of each other. There will be less mistrust, less fear, and more love for each other as we learn about each others hopes, dreams, and insecurities.

In either case, information is power for good or ill. Those with information about us have a kind of power over us. This is not nefarious. It's a fact. Those that understand us best can have an influence on us. They know what to say and how to say it and they know which topics to avoid.

Then there are those who's cooperation we depend on, such as employers, credit companies and insurance companies. To them, information is money. They can better gauge what kind of employee you will be or how big a credit or insurance risk you are. Some might argue, that this is only fair. Those who choose to lead risky lives should pay a premium compared to those who don't.

What is happening regardless, is the elimination of the "benefit of the doubt" and the "presumption of innocence." Basically those that do not share will be looked upon with suspicion. People will ask, "what are they hiding?"

Sharing your privacy will no longer be considered a choice but will be a requirement. So we end up with a situation where we have less trust not more.

For those that do share, they will find the warm embrace of a society that knows who they are... sometimes better than they know themselves.

Some Sapien considers a Mac

Form vs. Function.

I find it interesting that technology is not a stand alone concept for the modern human. For us form nearly precedes function. If a technological tool is not also visually appealing it will garner very little interest except by the most die-hard technological fanatics.

Apple ...the computer company, is a good example of this ethos. It's products are based on a foundation of world class design. Their products are not simply tools but, works of art -- both hardware and software.

Apple has been able to this design principle to a higher level. It has created a culture obsessed with good design. Not just its engineers but its customers have come to expect it. Apple must be careful to not simply release "me too" products or V2.0 products. Its customers are willing to pay through the nose for good design, but any move to simply grab more market share or to simply increase revenue without also delivering substantial design improvements will be seen a a betrayal of the culture that Apple has helped create.

Take for example the release of the new iPhone. It looks superficially the same as it's predecessor. It packs fewer new features than expected and the launch of the product looked like a bad bicycle race crash. In short, Apple failed to deliver on its brand promise.

This puts apple in a perilous situation. Customers are usually willing to forgive the occasional error from their favourite vendor. But if apple repeats this performance it will lose the credibility with its customers that it is not simply another silicon valley technology company looking to make a quick buck at the expense of its customers.

Some Sapien is just waiting

Have you ever noticed how much time we spend waiting?

We wait in line for coffee. We wait for stoplights to change color. We wait for public transport. We wait for others.

Fully 25% of our waking hours must be spent waiting.

Some of us have found ways to use the majority of this time productively. Some of us use this time to simply entertain ourselves. That is, making wasted time more enjoyable. Some would argue wasting time is important for our health. I don't disagree.

However, making the most of this waiting time is only possible because of technology. Radio has enabled us to either be entertained or informed while waiting to get to our destination. The advent of portable audio media has allowed us to take control of what we listen to on the radio in our favorite transportation method.

The invention of the cell phone, though initially meant to help us communicate with astronauts on the moon, allows us to get in contact with folks much closer to us. Cell phones have become the Swiss-army knife of the 21st century. What can't you do with a cell phone these days?

On the other hand, what have we exchanged for this productivity? The saying "No matter where you go, there you are." no longer applies. For we can now be anywhere else we want to be.

We can be with our friends and family or we can be at work or we can be engrossed in some game, video or listening to music. We can know instantly the status of our closest friends, who are not close at all. We can be anywhere but where we are and with whom we are with. We have lost our sense of place. We have become detached from the very ground we stand on.

One minute we can be enjoying a latte at our favorite coffee shop. The next minute we can be raising awareness of the crisis in Darfur or raising money for our favorite political candidate. Is there something wrong with this? Who knows?

Rather than judging the rightness or wrongness of this situation, I believe we simply need to be more aware of the choices we are making with regard to where our consciousness is at any given moment. We can not allow ourselves to unconsciously switch from one context to the next. Otherwise we run the danger of undervaluing the experience of physical selves in favour of our digital selves and in the same moment under valuing the existence of our companions in the physical space.

This leads to behavior where we ignore the pain and suffering of our physical neighbor and focus exclusively on the drama of our virtual neighbors.

We don't want to be in a situation where ignore the man who was hit by a car, who is lying in the street, simply because he's not on our "Friends" list, do we?

Some Sapien Discovers Blogspot

Hello World!

I've been around the Internet since just before HTML was invented. However, being who I am, I preferred to stay hidden in the pixelated greenery to avoid attracting the attention of predators.

Sitting on the sidelines of the WWW for so long, I've seen it grow and evolve. I have reached the point where I feel I can explore some of the new tools that are available.

To wit, here I am. I'm stepping out of the greenery... fig leaf in hand to explore this wonderfully wide world. Actually, what I plan to do is to make the digital world part of my real world experience, blending the two together.

I'm not sure what this is going to look like, but it will probably require some "over-sharing" on my part. I will be doing my exploration somewhat anonymously whenever possible. So in the end I will leave a mark in the mud for others to see but my individuality will remain somewhat obscured. Thus I will only refer to myself as Some-Sapien, much in the same way you refer to a person you met on the street who's name you can't quite remember.

I hope you will share this adventure with me. Together we will learn to what it means to be sentient in the modern world.