Surrounded by technology

Fragrance Lake reflections

I took this picture of Fragrance Lake last Thursday on my hike with the Trailblazers. It's a miracle to me that such a lovely scene can be captured with my cellphone, but these days nobody is surprised that we carry such advanced technology around with us all the time. We are accustomed to it and consider it unremarkable. But every once in awhile, I am reminded that this is a very recent phenomenon, and that taking it all for granted is causing me to forget to appreciate how amazing it all is.

Steve Jobs introduced the smartphone to the world in 2007, not much more than a decade ago, and now you rarely see anybody walking around without one, either staring down at the screen while sitting on the bus, hanging out in the coffee shop with heads bent over their phones, and very occasionally having a conversation with someone. What do people mostly do with their phones? I sometimes take a peek at a screen or two as I'm standing up to exit the bus, and I see some are watching movies, others shopping and looking at (for example) dresses, or texting, little balloons filled with words sent to carry on a written conversation with another. Or checking emails or Twitter accounts. Now that our bus system has onboard wifi, I often join them with my own phone, although I've already done all that before boarding, so I have little incentive to continue. We are tethered to our phones, in any event.

Last Thursday, my friend Melanie realized that she had lost her phone while hiking, and I learned that it's possible to locate your lost phone by logging into iCloud on another phone and putting in your own ID. I wrote about this on my other blog, but it still continues to astound me that it's even possible. We were able to backtrack and find the phone, which was hidden in bushes, but it is possible to instruct it to make a sound when you think you're close to it, and that's how we found it.

Once I got home, I pulled out my tablet, logged into iCloud, and discovered that it and my phone are located on a map! Although this is wonderful in one way, it also reminds me that technology knows where I am at all times, as I walk around with my phone in my pocket. The only way to remain incognito is to turn my phone all the way off, which of course I'm not going to do while out and taking pictures. When I'm in the High Country, we have no internet, so I guess that means I'm also not findable at those times.

When I think about it, there's no doubt that our lives are better off because of technology, but it's also impossible to keep up with it. I read recently that some voice activation technology can listen to you while you're going about your business at home. In fact, that's what much of it is designed to do. Fortunately, we don't (and won't) have any such thing in our own home, but many people are fine with it, wanting the convenience of simply talking to the device and turning on the TV to search for something they want to watch. It's all a bit scary to me.

We seem to be headed to more of the same, with self-driving cars a reality in my own lifetime. And that astonishes me. Of course, here I am sitting in my bed with a laptop as I write this post, early in the morning before the world comes awake, and I'll be able to send it out into the world with a touch on the screen. It will make its way across the planet, to my readers in Australia and Europe, as well as to those close by. It is a different world than even a few short years ago.

Yesterday, I just finished binge-watching the third season of The Crown on Netflix, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is most enjoyable, and now I will have to wait for season 4 before taking it up again. I really like the ability to watch shows I enjoy when I choose to, rather than waiting for a pre-scheduled moment every week or so when a new episode is released. I have subscribed to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and now Disney+. It makes for an incredible number of shows of all varieties to choose from, keeping me not only informed and entertained, but also overwhelmed at times. But it's also on my own personal schedule, rather than a network's, which is delightful.

So, technology has its pluses and minuses, as do most things in life, but keeping up with it all is almost impossible. Without the assistance of my friends, who point me in various directions when needed, I'd never be able to figure out how to proceed. It was our leader, Al, who introduced me to the advantages of iCloud last Thursday, and I'm passing on the information to you, who might not have known about it either. Who would have guessed that we would be talking about clouds in such a manner? Although I can literally say I've seen clouds from both sides now, I have just been introduced to the electronic cloud as well.

Success in creating artificial intelligence (AI) would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks. —Stephen Hawking

*  *  *

A week ago I had a most enjoyable birthday, from start to finish it was exceptional. Now I am seventy-seven and seven days old, and I'm feeling incredibly blessed as I find my way through these next days, weeks, and months. It would be possible to focus on what is difficult in life these days, but it's also quite possible to be optimistic and delight in the world around me. As I continue my journey towards letting go of habits and daily chores that bind me, I find that each day I wake with hope and joy in my heart. This Advent season moves inexorably towards the shortest day and the longest night of the year, but in compensation I see holiday lights everywhere, and it seems I see more smiles and happiness on the faces of those around me. Maybe they are reacting to my own smiling face, but for whatever reason, life is good and filled with love and laughter.

And that is what I will leave you with today, my dear readers: hope that your own days ahead will be filled with much of the same joy. My dear life partner still sleeps next to me, my tea is gone, and the coffee shop beckons. Until we meet again next week, I wish you all good things.