David McNamee
01-22-2004, 06:30 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1078&dept_id=529468&newsid=10837492&PAG=461&rfi=9' target='_blank'>http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1078&dept_id=529468&newsid=10837492&PAG=461&rfi=9</a><br /><br /></div>"An annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey, known as the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, found that among adults asked what invention they hate most but can't live without, 30 percent said the cell phone." Other items on that made the list were the television, the alarm clock, and the answering machine. <br /><br />Being a cell phone junkie, I find this interesting. People recognize that these devices are essential to modern living, but they also hate them. My follow-up question is why? Being able to communicate from nearly anywhere is immeasurably valuable. Here's what the Lemelson Center Director, Merton C. Flemings had to say: "The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing, and I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside of that is that you sometimes want to be alone." That is a valid point. I know there are times when I don't want to be disturbed. When that happens, I TURN OFF MY PHONE! That statement from Merton Flemings makes me question the results of this survey. Is it really the technology that people hate? Is it, instead, a condition of life that they hate and direct that hate at the enabling technology? If you hate being bothered, it follows that you'll hate cell phones. If you hate going to work in the morning, you'll probably hate your alarm clock. If you hate the lousy network programming, you likely hate your television.<br /><br />The results of the Lemelson-MIT survey are far from useless. The survey does, however, need to be used to investigate the real reasons behind this "hatred" of technology.