Information technology: to those who embrace neo-luddism it’s
a behemoth that is progressively paving the way that will eventually lead to
the fall of intelligent life that inhabit this mud ball at the hands of its own
creation. To business opportunists it’s a conduit that has opened a world of
infinite profit possibilities (excuse the hyperbole here). To social sloths and
gluttons, it is redemption inscribed in an 8 syllabus word that, when it
manifests to any of its many physical forms, can actually be bought with money.
Maybe to some societies out there it’s a curse word that, when uttered, the
perpetrator is swiftly dealt with by way of death without trial, who knows? The
definitions could be as miscellaneous as moods of a teenage girl during “that
time of the month”; different strokes to different folks. Nonetheless, whichever
it is, information technology (or Management of Information Services to you,
smart guy) has a colossal amount of benefits, rather like bacon. But unlike
bacon, and like most things that are supposed to make our lives easier, it
brings with it a gauntlet of threats. This brings me to the title of this post;
let us briefly discuss the other side of IT... the grey side.
This article, laconic as it is, is neither about the
positives (colour white) nor the negatives (colour black) of information technology,
but it is closer to the latter. The catch is, I will ignore the obvious
negatives of information technology (languor, lack of basic arithmetic skills, ignorance
to the importance of security and protection of personal information, “doctor”
handwriting, lack of imagination etc) but will rather touch on the “shades of
grey”.
‘If the purpose of
something is not known, abuse becomes inevitable’
The predicament I see with information technology in
workplaces is that it sucks up the workforce in a quicksand of illusion that
has them espouse the idea that they are “intelligent”. Every Suzy that owns an
iPhone and a Mac Book and knows the terms Cloud Computing, email, HTML, RAM,
and strings of other acronyms that a person who works with, and also carries, a
smart device is supposed to be familiar with in the first place, fancies
themselves a geek or knowledgeable enough for whatever position they hold and
that isn’t always the case. It’s just an illusion.
Out in the real world, the privilege of having access to,
and the power to manipulate, information within an arm’s reach is also the
biggest culprit for the slow death of the proactive culture. Granted this privilege
did give birth to a wealth of ideas, it is also true that we will never get to
bear witness to most of those because the “proactive” element now is but a
silhouette of what once was. It’s just like a cousin of mine said about a day ago; 'people die with great ideas. The graveyard has so much wealth'. Sand-dog
humour as it may be, this quote has truth that is nothing south of “cold-blooded”.
Literally. Fading away are the days of people going out and actually look for a
job instead of applying online with the hope that Suzy will forfeit some of her
“information technology” indulging time to have a look at your application and,
possibly, send it through for higher-level evaluation. A lot of people are
aware of this fact but, you know, the “information technology” has reengineered
people into avoiding thinking at all cost and desire the comfort of blind
convictions because it’s “easier” that way. After all information technology is
supposed to make our lives “easier”, right? Yeah, the grey side.
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| One of my favoured apps for its ease of use. It was easier, more natural, using just a pen and exam pad still |
Karma Chameleon
With a rather keen peripheral view one thing that I can’t
seem to shake my attention off of, and perhaps the biggest shade of grey, is
that most modern information technology doesn’t blend in with the natural order
of normal evolution of man’s ability to employ tools of external origins and
use them to his advantage. In simpler terms, if it doesn’t meet the yardstick
of my self-proclaimed 30 second rule (if you can’t totally master it in 30
seconds) it isn’t REALLY ready yet. It means that your utilisation of it merely
validates its existence. Your life wouldn’t be significantly harder without it.
Au contraire, technologies that you can’t use while half asleep (let’s see you
pair two Bluetooth devices or make flight quotes online while half asleep) like
you’re able to use a comb or make a speed dial call, that technology is ahead
of you. It’s ahead of its time.
Out of my head I can think of those integrated fingerprint
authentication/access systems and M-PESA mobile money solution as being right
on time. To make an argument for the former, it doesn’t happen every day that a
person leaves their hands at home so they don't have access to their office or a
security room does it? And for the latter, well, just try it.
And that, folks, is a little about the grey side of
Information Technology. Can you guess more?
