One of the articles that helped me pass the time outside of work this weekend got me thinking again about this idea that technology really has jumped the shark (eh, correction) jumping a major hurdle into an area of safety/well-being in respect to being something that serves my needs, rather than me being the one to serve its needs.
That sounds like something worth a longer post somewhere, but the fact of the matter is that I am doing a whole lot less these days in terms of being a computer (or website) administrator than I am just enjoying and learning from what’s being presented by these devices and services.
And yes, this freedom from administration has its down moments – like when how I needed to turn back on my desktop PC just to do some edits to the MMM WordPress install or when I needed the same desktop to build my business card since neither my mobile or iPad were as structured to work for that need. But, that’s just it – I didn’t use the computer in the corner because there’s no other option, but because it was the best option available and I was then able to sort of) quickly get back to living.
Of the challenges that I think we will have, not just as tablets step up how we interact with life and content, we are going to have to take back some of that control that we thought we used to have. A (father) friend mentioned yesterday that he was afraid that we would lose the ability to disconnect. I don’t think it will be a problem, mainly because connectivity is seen as a layer to many today, whereas there are a ton of others where its the way things always were – like TV and the late show.
What we are walking into now is this idea that we are being given a bit more interaction into the content that we use around our lives. That means that productivity changes. It means that entertainment changes. Old models and new models alike are able to be broken down and reinvented to something that works better for the world to be – not the status quo. And the implications of these changes are just as impossible to understand as is the future they will spawn.
As I look at what mobile and tech will mean for me in a few years time, I know that I will be challenged to not just understand and make intelligent decisions, but I will also have to embrace the challenge that life will be different, and if I am to give value back to others, I’ll have to adopt and challenge change within myself.
blog.arjw 
“Jumped the shark” is generally a pejorative term. But is this what you meant here?
I mean it in respect to jumping a major hurdle into an area of safety/well-being. Sometimes, I forget about the various meanings of such phrases.
“Jumping the shark” means that something has lost its relevance. I’m not meaning to quibble, but as I was reading, I kept expecting you to start slamming some type of mobile technology for exceeding its limits. I think your essay would be more effective with the phrase you suggest in your comments–that a major HURDLE has been passed.
By the way, the term “jumping the shark” comes from the television show Happy Days from the seventies in the particular episode where Fonzie waterskis over a shark. That’s essentially the point where the show no longer was the American Graffiti-esque look back at the fifties and had become too absorbed in the characters.
See here for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_the_shark
Yea; that wsa a major foible on my part and I’ve updated the post… though your quibble does give me an idea to ponder as a bit of an alternate viewpoint. Stay tuned 😉