Reflections on Turning 46 in a Hyperconnected World
Next Week, I Turn 46
Which means, let’s face it, I am no longer young. More importantly, I grew up without a smartphone (yes, that makes me old) and our first family PC monitor was green and black (ancient by any standard).
From Disconnected to Overconnected
In the past 30 years, I have gone from being largely disconnected, with only a fixed landline and a dial up modem, to being completely overconnected. I remember anxiously watching the clock while playing my first Command & Conquer games online because every minute meant higher internet costs. I remember commuting forty-five minutes to university, reading my Robert Ludlum novel in hardcopy. Yes, I had a mobile phone, but playing Snake or Tetris got boring really fast. Back then, a phone was simply a means to communicate, to call and receive messages.
The Blackberry Era and Beyond
I remember getting my first Blackberry, loving the rotating dial, and feeling exuberant when I was able to reply to a message while on holiday in Greece early in my career.
F*ck (excuse my French, I have no better word for it), those times were good, looking back now.
The Impact of Technology: We All Feel It
I have read many books on the impact of technology on our personal lives. Sure, I could quote academic sources stating that the average person spends eight hours staring at their phone, picking it up more than fifty times a day. Yes, I could recommend some great books on this topic that would likely open your eyes, including
- The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
- Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (although Deep Work hits the mark as well)
- Solitude by Michael Harris
But why would I do that, when I am convinced that there are many others out there who feel their relationship with technology is broken, who feel that the lure of social media platforms has become toxic and algorithms are changing the way they perceive the world and themselves.
Realization is the First Step
Technology has brought us many things, but not all of them are good. It starts with a realization, and trust me, it is not an overnight fix.
I hope my story here contributes to your own moment of realization.
Leave a Reply