Media Dialogue

August 30, 2010


1: Do you ever think what it would be like if there were a sort of “Google” for
real life?
2: Well, I mean, there is. You can use it to find anything you want, really.
1: Well, no, you can’t find real-life objects. You’re limited to what is on the Internet.
2: That’s not a very big limit… just about everything’s available now.
1: But, what I mean is, more the ability to use Google to find things around you, things that are physically near you. For example, I was in Publix grocery shopping yesterday, and I was looking for a specific thing, and I thought, what if Publix had some sort of directory where you could look up the products by brand or category, and it would give you their exact location in the store.
2: You know, they do have people working there who essentially do that same thing.
1: In that situation, yes, but that’s not always the case. What if I lost my car keys
in my room?
2: You’d have to retrace your steps and think where they might be.
1: Or, what if I had a way to search for them with technology. I could input my keys into some sort of device; so that when I couldn’t find them, all I would have to do is recall them on the device and it would locate them for me.
2: That is a good idea. I can see how something like that could have its place, and how it could be useful, but not as much the grocery store thing.
1: And, why not?
2: So many technologies are taking away the need for real people, and thus taking away real interaction. When was the last time you actually picked up the phone to find out the hours of a business?
1: Only when they don’t have a website.
2: Exactly! People of our generation don’t tend to interact with people the same way that people our parents’ age do. What you essentially just suggested was replacing hundreds of jobs by more machines. Add in some self-checkout counters and grocery stores suddenly don’t need employees anymore.
1: Come on, you know how often those self-checkouts don’t work, there’d have to be someone around to help people with that.
2: You know what I mean. I think the mechanized future we are headed for is not going to be as helpful as people think it will. We’re getting rid of the need for people, and therefore getting rid of jobs, and I think in 50 years, people aren’t going to know how to interact with each other.