Communications Breakdown: Ain’t It A Shame?
By Michael Karl Witzel ©2007-2008
Today, people can reach out and touch someone no matter where they are! Unfortunately, it seems that the more technologically advanced we get and the more communication gadgets we acquire, the more we lose the ability to initiate a simple conversation. As you enjoy your wireless repartee on your cellular phone, did you ever find yourself wondering what happened to one-on-one, person-to-person, static-free communications?
Picture the scene at any airport across America: There, standing in line at the check-in counter, boarding gate—or even in the public restroom—men, women, and even teenagers press a small gadget to their ears and babble. Babble, babble, babble. Ditto at supermarkets, malls, restaurants, theater and movie lobbies, and of course on virtually every street corner. In fact, just about everywhere.
Of course, the techno-geeks privy to the latest goodies are equipped with earbuds, enabling them to enjoy the gift of gab without even bothering to unhinge their flip phone. It’s not unusual to see grown adults marching around in public—yakking out loud, rambling on like mentally deranged street dwellers. To the alien who just landed on this planet, it would appear that most of society has gone mad.
The big question: What’s so all-fired important that people can’t wait till they return home or to the office to use a land-line (remember those)? Seriously folks, are we all so important or feel we are so completely “out of touch” that we must constantly be attached to an electronic umbilical cord?
What is this hypnotic hold that these insidious devices have over us? DEEDLE-DEE, DEEDLE-DEE, DEEDLE-DEE! Hold that thought! My cell phone is ringing, and I’m compelled—dare I say, compulsed—to answer it. Within moments, my bits and bytes will criss-cross yours in time and space, yet fail to make a human connection.
If only we could listen in on the average mobile phone conversation (and come to think of it, we’re forced to do so many times a day). Very quickly, we hear that most of this seemingly urgent digital dialogue is pointless drivel.
Once, this writer had the opportunity to eavesdrop on such conversations when his mistuned TV picked up cell calls. Was it all business? Emergencies? Hardly. Sure, there was some wheeling and dealing, but most of it consisted of husbands calling home to see if the wife had already watched a particular video or find out what brand of margarine to buy.
More and more, people are beginning to stop talking to each other in public! Nowadays, we routinely sit elbow to elbow in waiting rooms, mingle in lobbies, and pass each other in shopping malls, barely cognizant of each other’s existence. As modern gadgets become an electronic extension of our nervous systems, the social graces honed by our forefathers wither.
Why bother to make a personal connection? Somewhere, out on the network, the members of our extended electronic family wait for our call. These days, long-distance is free—but roaming charges may apply ….
Published: 2001-2002
Company: Motorola SPS, Austin, Texas
Where: DigitalDNA.com web site (now offline)
Section: Tech column, Reality Bytes
Click here to see a sample of the original DigitalDNA.com Flash web site, with the Reality Bytes column viewable under the “Tech” button.
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