Technology: The Good and Bad

I have always been ambivalent about new technology, but the other day I was reminded how cool technology can be when it meets a work need. A fellow writer was conversing with a developer using Microsoft instant messaging and discovered that the IM software enabled her to share her desktop with the developer. This feature proved to be enormously helpful because she was able to show him her problem and get it resolved quickly. I plan on using this feature, especially now that I am remote to my development team.

But this week I also ran across an example of cool technology that makes me a little suspicious. In the July 24th edition of Fortune, the article "Tracking Your WI-FI" describes how a small Boston company is mapping every Wi-Fi access point in the country's 100 biggest cities. Why, you ask? So that when you open a wireless connection, at an airport for example, this company can create localized ads for you. For example, because a particular Wi-Fi access point has been mapped, the company's software knows there is a donut shop down the street and sends you an ad with a picture of a glistening, sugar-coated donut. You may argue that this is a good thing -- you might be hungry. But this kind of technology makes me a little leery. In a funny, but disturbing short story by George Saunders, ( In Persuasion Nation) advertising becomes so powerful and personalized that ads are displayed as holograms on the street which are activated by microchips embedded in your shoes. If you remove the shoes, you are tracked down by the advertising police and forced to attend special "training" classes. Yikes! Hopefully, that kind of technology will remain fictional.