PC Magazine - 2009 11.pdf - Libertad Zero

BlackBerry users are glued to the screen24/7 looking for new e-mail from anyone as iflife and death depended on it.iceberg. Computers give us highly realisticgames that suck people into playingthem for hours on end. And I’d rather noteven want to get into the time-killer calledSecond Life. Here a person actually createsa whole second life in which he or she canwaste countless hours within that structureand waste time as another person.BlackBerry Breeds Social MisfitsAnd, of course, the microprocessoritself has permeated things other than amachine shop lathe. It is in the soon-to-beubiquitoussmart phone. Just watch someonewith a BlackBerry or an iPhone. TheBlackBerry users are essentially glued to thescreen 24/7 looking for any e-mail from anyoneas if life and death depended on it. Andthe iPhone and its crazy apps can waste awhole day of someone’s time.These little devices hijack even normalsocialization. People take phone calls at dinnerin a restaurant, they are constantly lookingthings up on the Web or tracking peopleor scanning the news.As a technologist myself, I have obviouslypromoted smart devices and computers, butI do look around at my own increasing disorganizationand remind myself that I originallygot into computers to get more organizedand more efficient, not less. Instead I got lessorganized and less efficient.Messy Desk? Blame The ComputerWhat’s made me contemplate this dilemmais the discorganization of my physical desktop—youknow, the one with the screen andkeyboard sitting on it. Why can’t I keep itclean? I have to blame something other thanmyself, but I cannot bring myself to clearingit off and keep it clear. On occasion I havebrought in a box and just scraped everythingoff the desk straight into the box then sortedout the box while watching TV. The desk isnow cleared off but within just a few days it’scovered with papers and cables and othercrap and the process has to be re-initiated.I know the computer is to blame. Somehowcomputer usage has made me moreof a slob than I am naturally. I’m absolutelysure that if Marshall McLuhan were alive hecould explain it. It has something to do withthe mouse, or the interactivity or the brightscreen or being in constant contact with toomany strangers or something like that.While I am not sure this lament will do meany good, my advice is simple. Get off themachine! Throw out your iPhone and dosome gardening. Go build something.At least turn off your phone when you arein a restaurant. That would be a start.Dvorak Live on the Web John’s Internet TVshow airs every Wednesday at 3:30 ET on Cranky-Geeks.com. You can download back episodeswhenever you like.NOVEMBER 2009 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 43