Technology: The end or the means

This question has intrigued me for quite a while.  Do we, the citizens of this modern world, view and use Technology as the means to an end  or the end itself ?

The Oxford dictionary, in 1931 defined Technology as – “a treatise on the arts”. The same dictionary in 1965 defines it as – a “science of the industrial arts”. Down the line, half a century later it defines it as – “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry: advances in computer technology”

As can be seen, the changing definition of technology reflects the changing use of it over the years. In earlier days the development of the tools of trade also was referred to as technology.

Today we refer to it and use it to enable a class of leisure in the modern global economy. Which is great.  But the changing definition, meaning and practical use of Technology also can pose a critical question : what are we using it for ? are we so concerned about technology itself that we forget what we needed it for in the first place?

In the current context, one such game changing & breakthrough Technologies is Mobile Telephony and the SMS . It has changed we way we communicate. It has changed the way we behave. It has also changed the way we socially interact or entertain ourselves. In gathering after gathering, I notice young people, besotted with their phones, either texting their friends, playing a game or in general just staring at the handset and  wondering what to do with it  J. Their social interaction with the rest of the group is near zero.

Similarly, when we are taking a drive through the country side , are we looking out the window and appreciating nature ? No. Mostly we are hearing our favorite music on our handset.

So, as the years go by, a simple talking device becomes wireless, a personal telegraph machine, a music box, a camera, a computer, a GPS receiver, a electronic games machine and so on and so forth ! Wow ! Amazing ! And all we wanted it for in the first place was to talk J

As time progresses, computers gain smaller footprints. (It does not matter how they affect the users eyes ), gain high and higher memory and storage space which will never be fully utilized anyway. I do remember not so very long ago when a famous software product company’s founder stated that64 KB of RAM was more than enough!

All in all, computers become smaller, mobiles become more and more invasive, cars start simulating homes, and we humans forget simple things like thinking, reading a book, writing a letter hampering our creativity and mental abilities.

My point is this – are we letting our penchant for technology drive it’s use in our lives or are we allowing the use to drive the choice of technology. Sadly I feel it’s the former. When we procure a product, we tend to compare the technical features (most of which we will never use) and then choose the T1 ( technically most superior) at a price ofL1 ( lowest bargained price). With the result we get an overdose of unused or unusable “technology” in our lives. Call this technical trash.

With the technical trash accumulating in this great wide world, is it a wonder then that we have pollution, unhealthy exposure to radiation and other forms of reactions caused the imbalance we have created in nature? Apart from the physical dangers we create for ourselves?

These choices we make are not only for our personal procurement decisions. They also include the professional procurement decisions we make.  We are buying products which are technically superior (no doubts on that) but which our requirements do not really need. With the end result that we are not only creating technical trash but also wasting finance and resources which are critically in short  these days.

One standing example is closer home, in India. We have spent Billions of Dollars in our effort to automate Citizen Services, make Governance more efficient, reduce corruption and finally make it possible for the citizen to receive a timely service. Do we define citizen as the 30% of our population who have access to a digital device to gain from such services or do we define citizens as including those who do not have such devices or such facilities and which are close to 70% of our population? If you total the money spent on such Infrastructure, I.T. hardware and application costs as well as the running cost and divide that by the actual number of “citizens “ who can use this infra, you will be astounded at the cost per citizen of any such services or initiatives.

How long then, can such wastage be afforded? Today we have once again changed the dictionary meaning of “Technology”.  When Oxford defines it as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry”… our technology choices have dropped the ever important words– “practical purposes”.