Every now and again I take a step back and just take a moment to consider how much technology plays a part in my day to day life. I remember as a youngster creating endless Christmas wish-lists full of gadgets such as pocket televisions, cameras, walkie-talkies, computer games and the like. All of which were sadly rebuffed by a certain Mr S. Claus as apparently he was “only interested in giving presents to children that didn’t rot the brain”.
I rather suspect foul play by my dear, departed Dad.
Nowadays I have been accused of spending most of my waking hours with my head buried in my phone. Something of a dramatic exaggeration of course (honest guv), but it does illustrate just much I’ve come to rely on technology whether at work or play. All those separate gadgets I used to dream of owning, I now access via a single device. Is it any wonder that my kids hound me incessantly for the use of my phone or indeed, more recently, to have their own phones or tablets returned to them? Devices that I have invariably hidden accompanied no doubt with a mutter or two along the lines of “those things will rot your brain”. (How times have changed, eh Dad?) But in truth I am hardly the ideal role model – quite the hypocrite in fact. There is simply so much that I rely on my phone for – email, texting, messaging (texting is different from messaging in my world), satnav, photos, videoing, shopping, listening to music, social media, online banking, checking football transfer gossip, scrabble (and that’s the short list!). Oh, the fear and panic that ensues when I’m at my desk, my fingers twitching because I can’t find my phone… only to find that it is in fact at my ear, and is being used for what is commonly known as ‘a phone call’. How novel!
But before I give myself too much of a hard time, there are several plus sides of the equation to consider:
- I have become fluent in ‘Emoji’ and can now communicate effectively with my daughter and, weirdly, my Mum.
- My FatBooth avatar is guaranteed to make my sons laugh, regardless of mood.
- I can actually find my way to meetings in London.
- I am no longer a slave to a desk or a computer in order to do all the things I need to for work. Cisco (which, I should disclose, is the company I work for) has kindly developed a huge array of mobile apps which mean that, regardless of location or time of day or night, I am still able to work. Isn’t that lovely of them?
(Incidentally, and I should warn you that this pure, unadulterated and unabashed promotion, Cisco is able to do that using Fast IT capabilities and some of our very cool technology in our Datacentres. If you click on the video link below you can learn a little more.)
So you see, the evidence is irrefutable. Technology is an essential, and I am a Technology Dependant*
*Except in the world of coffee. It is my solemn view that these new-fangled coffee-pod machines are the work of the devil himself. Give me my large, old-fashioned coffee machine any day of the week. Oh, and instant coffee is banned in my house. Though, I do also speak fluent Starbucks’ese. Hmm… Bye.
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