Chapter 9 - Of Synthetics and Cyborgs

Ritchin opens this chapter with a few interesting thoughts that I’d like to challenge. First of all, Ritchin discusses the future of cameras where a computer will use face recognition to tell us who we are talking to or even record our drunk moments to later view. I don’t know about Ritchin, but I’m pretty sure most people probably would not like to see how embarrassing they were in their inebriated state. Secondly, Ritchin makes a statement about how today everyone is plugged into their phones or iPods, and how you could walk into a café and see all the tables taken by only a single person holding a conversation with someone who is not actually there. Though I’ve had similar experiences in the past, I do feel that today we are moving away from that. True, people are still constantly plugged in to their music, phones, and laptops, but I feel like a form of social etiquette has formed in response to situations like Ritchin’s café experience. People used to do things like that in public because it was cool and new. If you go to a café these days to have a phone call with a friend you just look like a jerk. I found the part of the chapter on Steve Mann and his technologies were interesting, such as facial recognition and underwear that activates the air conditioner. However, none of the things he created were all that necessary or even that much more convenient. I mean I can stand up and walk two feet to the thermostat in my room to change the temperature, and if I were having a conversation with Alan Alda, I sure as hell would not need a computer to tell me so. I think the fact that when parted from these technologies, the man was actually disoriented to the point of needing a wheel chair shows that he is probably much better off without the stuff. He is trading the functionality of his own human machine for a few novelty short cuts.