September 8, 2004
Our Cell Phones, Ourselves
A must read article, warning us to be cautious, as ubiquitous technology - now a part of our every day lives - will not be without consequences. By Christine Rosen, senior editor of The New Atlantis Journal and resident fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
From status symbol to social nuisance, the cell phone now shapes our personal identities and public behavior. We are always "connected" -- on the subway, in the checkout line, and even on the Great Wall of China -- but we are increasingly untethered from the world around us.
On Etiquette
[...] Whitmore is orrect to suggest that we are in the midst of a period of adjustment. We still have the memory of the old social rules, which remind us to be courteous towards others, especially in confined environments such as trains and elevators. But it is becoming increasingly clear that cell phone technology itself has disrupted ur ability to insist on the enforcement of social rules.
On Communicating
[...] Cell phones provide us with a new, but not necessarily superior means of communicating with each other. They encourage talk, not conversation. They link us to those we know, but remove us from the strangers who surround us in public space. Our constant accessibility and frequent exchange of information is undeniably useful. But it would be a terrible irony if “being connected” required or encouraged a disconnection from community life—an erosion of the spontaneous encounters and everyday decencies that make society both civilized and tolerable.
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2004/09/005249.htm
