Age of Technology

Good day Cyberspace.

I read something this morning that disturbed me. It really threw me for a loop...this article about a wireless braking system for bicycles.

The first thing that popped into my mind was why? Bicycles are great because they don't require fuel, they are relatively cheap and they are purely mechanical. If something breaks on a bicycle, it can be fixed with a little know-how (and of course the right materials) in a few hours - no matter what it is that goes wrong.

My opinion on this is simple - it isn't broken, so why try to fix it? I don't want to rely on a wireless signal to apply my brakes...especially not when it's battery operated. This seems absolutely ludicrous to me. Not only is there the problem of batteries dying, but what happens if something interferes with the wireless signal? You could be pedaling along and have your brakes suddenly seize up your wheels...or worse yet, you may need to stop and have your brakes fail completely. Granted, I'd much rather have this happen on a bike than in a car...but I'd rather not have it happen at all.

Reading about this got me thinking about other technologies and how the technological age has evolved. I think that we've gone about it in the wrong way pretty much across the board. It's great that we have the capability to have the internet in our pocket...but do we really need it? Shouldn't someone have stood up at some point and said "Wait a second...instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to produce a tablet (which is essentially a smart phone without a phone), wouldn't it be more beneficial to develop a new hydroponic irrigation method that will allow crops to grow in the desert?" or "Hey, I know...let's put our money toward actually finding a cure for AIDS, MS, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, etc." (Notice that I didn't put Cancer. We already have a cure for most types, but nobody can patent it, nobody can profit from it, so why produce it?) It seems like these things would have been a much more constructive way to spend our time and money - but I'm willing to bet profit margins were more important and now technology is well...the new gold mine.

The other red flag that immediately was raised to me by reading this 'wireless bike brake' article was our ever-increasing reliance on computers. I'm not shocked by this, it's been a growing trend as long I've been on the planet. Now we even have cars that park themselves, soon to be followed by cars that drive themselves. I think again, we're going the wrong direction. A computer will never have the same processing capacity as the human brain...it's great that it will be able to judge the distance between the car in front and behind while watching the lines on the road...but would it be able to detect a log sliding off the back of a transport in front of you and swerve out of the way?

I'm beginning to ramble, so I think it's time to wrap this up...believe me, I could go on all day.

I don't want a bike with wireless brakes. I don't want a car that drives itself. I don't want a computer to think for me. Instead of making things more complicated, shouldn't we be trying to make things simpler? I think so, it could just be me. I'll leave you with this video, which pretty much sums up everything I'm trying to say.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!