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PBS Documentary: Digital Nation

I watched a part of it.

Definitely interesting, but I do happen to think the piece is considerably biased overall against technology.

What they miss is that a lot of the problems that arise don't seem to apply to everyone.

They're complaining about humans' addiction to the digital world. Well, about 50-60 years ago, critics complained about peoples' addictions to TV, and before that, very likely the telephone.

Humans love distractions...I'm surprised they don't realize that.

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's biased, but they seem to be going for shock value. They should as this is a serious issue. I blame the design of modern devices - hand-held computer that do many different things with varying degrees of efficiency.

When televisions were new, they were often referred to as "idiot boxes" because of the attention they required. Not only do modern devices have moving pictures, they are also interactive. These little things, which can travel anywhere in the world and potentially remain fully functional for days at a time, require our full attention to function. We have become extensions of machines, instead of the other way around.

I stumbled across this video a few weeks ago. It is a man's presentation of his wearable computer. It has comparable functionality to that of a modern cell phone, but it works in the real world. It extends our abilities in the realm that our senses exist. I imagine in the future it will feature holographic projections.

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_ ... ology.html

In the words of Scatman John: I want to be a human being, not a human doing.