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Smart machines can turn a bit too smart for the user's comfort. HEMANGINI GUPTA discovers on World Technology Day today that it's not viruses alone that bug us
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DWARFED BY TECHNOLOGY? The most common source of frustration is, of course, cellphones that can take on a life of their own Photo: Reuters
Just don't let technology know when you're in a hurry. — Wise saying
So you've waved goodbye to hazy pictures on your rickety old VCR, you're totally connected to your friends by mobile phone (if not Bluetooth yet), your car has central locking and you can do your banking on the Internet. You're part of the new generation that wonders how the earlier one survived and whether surviving that kind of life would have been worth it at all. But the new generation, all wired and zapping technology from its fingertips, can also get horribly entangled in the airwaves and gigabytes it generates. Technology that was supposed to make your life easier can suddenly turn against you, chortling evilly, entrapping you in its invisible claws.
False alarm
Take a simple technology like a central car-locking remote system. You're walking through a parking lot, each car looking treacherously similar, and you crinkle your nose wondering which one's yours. So you whip out your remote system and flash the car open. But the car was very far away and next thing you know the quick technology has guessed you must be a thief and reconfigured the security settings. So when you actually do locate your car and try to open it, the burglar alarm goes off hysterically and refuses to stop till it's reconfigured again.
Shobita S. found herself dealing with an unpredictable car alarm system, which would embarrass her by going off when she least expected it. "I had no way of knowing what was triggering the alarm," she says. "It would go off late at night or in a really crowded place and I just wouldn't be able to stop it."
Later car company officials told her that if she wanted to locate her car, all she had to do was press the middle button on the remote opening device so that her car lights flashed, identifying itself, but didn't actually open. Also, if you use your key to lock the car you need to use the key to open it as well — if you use the remote device the alarm goes off.
Other smart technology that foxes consumers are DVD players, which read discs and refuse to play pirated ones. Many an avid movie buff has suffered heartbreak after elaborate preparations for weekend marathons of the latest movies only to find the player digging in its heels over fake DVDs. Great for the industry, of course, but frustrating for some consumers. Geeta R. discovered this inbuilt sensor only after she bought an expensive player that regulates the movies she watches through its sensing device.
The most common source of frustration is of course cellphones which can take on a life of their own, deciding when to transmit messages and when to hold back depending, apparently, on the whims and fancies of the service providers. Calls are often "dropped", sometimes every few minutes during the same conversation. Messages are frequently not transmitted and some calls don't reach at all, leading to more than one lover's tiff when it seems that technology meant to connect has actually caused rifts and given the impression that messages were being ignored or calls not answered.
Think of theft
These temporary hiccups are inconvenient and embarrassing, but tech glitches and smart technology can actually be dangerous. Think of theft. Who would imagine that private information could be circulated via modern technology and compromise your security? Hotel heiress and movie star Paris Hilton's mobile phone details were accessed from the T-Mobile website in the U.S., and all her celebrity friends' phone numbers were published on the Internet. (It's another matter the world heard of the lady when a purloined video clip of graphic scenes with her boyfriend showed up on the internet. When last heard, she had lost a computer to boot.)
These instances resonated somewhat similarly with camera technologies that capture intimate moments and violate trust; as with the kids at Delhi Public School whose pictures were zapped across the country, or stealthily filmed images (through a mobile camera phone) that showed a top filmstar couple's public display of affection or even seedy, voyeuristic landlords spying on women tenants.
Technology, much like the speed at which it is transmitted, thrills but does comes with its drawbacks. So keep that in mind and happy Technology Day!
Must haves...
World's smallest smart phone — has Bluetooth, infrared, VGA camera, and Windows Media Player 10
Mobile manager — will bridge the boundary between smartphones and digital entertainment devices.
Pocket TV — whether you're stuck in traffic, outdoors camping or even at the office, you can watch your fav soap or match
Wireless DVD — stream DVD movies wirelessly to any room in your home from one DVD player
Car navigator — getting lost on in those narrow gullies will be a thing of the past
Radar detector — will detect oncoming vehicles on the road in any weather condition
Central power station — charges everything from mobile phones to i-Pods here
Wireless — use it to connect anything to everything
Motion detector — a tool to detect even the stealthiest thief entering your property
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