In the words of Neil Postman, “technology giveth and technology taketh away,” and although it is not necessarily the immediate sense wherein these words are to be applied, one can say that technology has taken away hours of pleasure and given in turn years of frustration. As Douglas Adams once said, “technology refers to anything that doesn’t quite work yet.” The profound truth of such a statement is rings true any and every time something goes wrong with technology.

My problem with technology is that I can see it’s potential. Like Tantalus, the fruit of the fulfillment of technology is always inches away from my grasp. Similarly, I am neither able to quench my thirst with the waters of “everything working” nor drown myself with the ocean of reality.

What it boils down to, as projected by Albert Borgmann in “Holding On to Reality,” is the struggle of “the structure of design with the contingency of reality.” This concept is immediately evident to anyone who has looked at a picture in a restaurant menu, or perhaps in a cookbook. The product in the photo is flawless, yet the result of the preparation never quite lives up to that model of perfection. Even if the creation is able to exceed expectations there is no guarantee that such a feat will be reproducible.

Nowhere is this quite so fitting than the realm of technology. How often does the pain of getting a device to work outweigh the gains of having the functionality? How many times does something on the computer “happen randomly” or simply “suddenly stop working.” In actuality the use of technology is the reliance on that which is not completely reliable. Just as an insect relies on specifics in the weather to achieve a normal lifestyle, technology too relies on something outside it’s control and while this “something” is based upon the natural laws of physics and chemistry it doesn’t mean that we can completely control them to the degree needed for complete reliability. 

To this point I have talked only on theory and observable fact. My plan is to now move into the realm of actuality, providing examples that have recently plagued me and possibly some annoyances I have that will inevitably find their way into this discussion.

My goal is to open wide a series of disconnected ventures, which, in my mind require a form of mingling and mixing to fully create a better understand of where things stand at present. I do not take on this work lightly, and thus am breaking it up into sections to be completely thoroughly at my leisure. I welcome any comments, questions or suggestions toward my work, for I hope it to be carefully done and as complete as I am able.