Geotagging, technology, privacy, and amputated virtual limbs |
• An acquaintance of mine has a teenage daughter. Like most teens in this century she spends her day texting her friends, abbreviating her life into 140 character hints, flinging these haikus out to an invisible clan of mutual texters. It's an always-on job, this endless encapsulation of the moment. During dinner, while walking, on the toilet, lounging in bed, or in any state of wakefulness, to chat is to live. Like all teens, my friend's daughter tested the limits of her parents' restrictions. For some infraction or another, they grounded her. And to reinforce the seriousness of her misconduct, they took away her mobile phone. Immediately the girl became physically sick. Faint, nauseous, and so ill she couldn't get out of bed. It was if her parents had amputated a limb. And in a way they had :
 Technophilia »
• Being able to record where a photo is taken one of the key features of the new iPhone. Not only does the phone capture a great picture but there is no residual "Now where was I". You can instantly see where the photo was taken on a detailed map. This is great for geocoding when surveying, but what are the social implications?
Privacy and GeoTagging Photos with GPS-enabled iPhone »
• Technology is born in generality and grows to specificity. Technology wants specialization. At the moment computers seem to be headed in the opposite direction. They seem to becoming evermore general purpose machines, as they swallow more and more functions :
Increasing Specialization »
Author: Asterisk, for AZ10.com ~ 3 Apr 2010
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