Most of the people that know me will be surprised that I am moved to blog about the death of Steve Jobs. I have been accused of being on the Luddite side of technological "advancement." In the interest of transparency, I will say up front that I think the ways that we have used the mind bending advances of technology have not necessarily been in the interest of true human evolution.
I am less than impressed by a car that parallel parks itself. I ranted after seeing the commercial that shows the young man shoving his phone in the face of the elderly Italian man from his late grandfather's village that he is visiting for the first time in order to communicate something personally important. The schizophrenia that surrounds our human relationship with technology makes me shudder sometimes. It seems that in the name of innovation we only strive to make ourselves lazier. For God's sake, it is completely within our abilities to learn to parallel park! We are already totally capable of doing what the majority of the world has done and learn another language if we want an experience in a place where people speak a language other than our mother tongue! Let the investment in human ingenuity cure cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's or harness a clean energy source. Really, isn't it better to work towards accomplishing the dream of teleporting someday rather than succeeding in having the ability to tweet about how awesome it would be to teleport? To quote Thoreau, "Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools."
And...
I fully own that I have my own schizophrenia surrounding technology. Without it, I would not be sharing these ideas in this moment. Without it, my communication with so many that I hold dear would be delayed. I would not have seen the picture of my nephew going to his first day of school in a new place that is 2000 painful miles away. I would not have nearly the same documentation of so many beautiful moments in my life. There would not be unknown people in Saudi Arabia reading my words. I would not have been able to see my best friend performing in France. I would not have heard so much of the music that is now crucial to my survival. I, plainly, would be ignorant of so many things that I now know.
All of this to say, it all comes down who is owning, driving and/or marketing the advancement. Although I have admittedly chortled at people standing in line to buy the latest overpriced iteration of the iFill in the blank, the contribution of Steve Jobs to our collective societal consciousness and aesthetic cannot be denied. I have a deep personal respect for visionary people who make it their life's work to see those visions actualized. In this time in America, when innovation is so precarious and lacks broad investment, I am saddened by the loss of a true American original. The blending of form and function has rarely been so seamless. I love today's statement by our much maligned President:
"There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."
Who of us could wish for anything more poetic?
So, thank you, Steve Jobs, for helping to make it possible for musicians to have more control over their product. Thank you for all of the careers that you helped to launch in the designing, perfecting, marketing and use of the brilliant products that Apple made under your stewardship.Thank you for making your brave fight with cancer public and giving countless people hope for what remained of their lives.
There is a broader societal analogy to be made between the death of capital "J" Jobs and the lower case of the same word. That is for another day. For now, BF Skinner's words resonate profoundly enough for me.
"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."
I am less than impressed by a car that parallel parks itself. I ranted after seeing the commercial that shows the young man shoving his phone in the face of the elderly Italian man from his late grandfather's village that he is visiting for the first time in order to communicate something personally important. The schizophrenia that surrounds our human relationship with technology makes me shudder sometimes. It seems that in the name of innovation we only strive to make ourselves lazier. For God's sake, it is completely within our abilities to learn to parallel park! We are already totally capable of doing what the majority of the world has done and learn another language if we want an experience in a place where people speak a language other than our mother tongue! Let the investment in human ingenuity cure cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's or harness a clean energy source. Really, isn't it better to work towards accomplishing the dream of teleporting someday rather than succeeding in having the ability to tweet about how awesome it would be to teleport? To quote Thoreau, "Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools."
And...
I fully own that I have my own schizophrenia surrounding technology. Without it, I would not be sharing these ideas in this moment. Without it, my communication with so many that I hold dear would be delayed. I would not have seen the picture of my nephew going to his first day of school in a new place that is 2000 painful miles away. I would not have nearly the same documentation of so many beautiful moments in my life. There would not be unknown people in Saudi Arabia reading my words. I would not have been able to see my best friend performing in France. I would not have heard so much of the music that is now crucial to my survival. I, plainly, would be ignorant of so many things that I now know.
All of this to say, it all comes down who is owning, driving and/or marketing the advancement. Although I have admittedly chortled at people standing in line to buy the latest overpriced iteration of the iFill in the blank, the contribution of Steve Jobs to our collective societal consciousness and aesthetic cannot be denied. I have a deep personal respect for visionary people who make it their life's work to see those visions actualized. In this time in America, when innovation is so precarious and lacks broad investment, I am saddened by the loss of a true American original. The blending of form and function has rarely been so seamless. I love today's statement by our much maligned President:
"There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."
Who of us could wish for anything more poetic?
So, thank you, Steve Jobs, for helping to make it possible for musicians to have more control over their product. Thank you for all of the careers that you helped to launch in the designing, perfecting, marketing and use of the brilliant products that Apple made under your stewardship.Thank you for making your brave fight with cancer public and giving countless people hope for what remained of their lives.
There is a broader societal analogy to be made between the death of capital "J" Jobs and the lower case of the same word. That is for another day. For now, BF Skinner's words resonate profoundly enough for me.
"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do."
2 comments:
You and technology have been uncomfortable bedfellows ever since I've known you, and I love that about you. But you never fail to surprise me. Who'd have thunk that the demise of the progenitor of i-culture would have such a profound effect on you. Poignant, insightful and elegantly phrased, as usual.
Heather,
Steve Jobs was a true genius and I am very thankful for what he brought to the world.
There is give-and-take with most of technology. Glad to read such a thoughtful article and will be round to visit you again. Cheers!
Theresa
Post a Comment