Call me a Luddite and a freaking paranoid, but why the heck is the

[Skidmore]

solution to every problem in this nation a computer, a cell phone, a integrated database, or some other piece of crap electronic equipment that malfunctions or retains every bit of information about you beyond the destruction of life on this planet. I swear, when the earth is no longer populated with humans, there will be cockroaches and data.

The WH Conference on Aging was just on. What were they promoting for health care for the aging in the future? Every electronic doodad you could think of to "monitor" people from a distance in their homes. What ever happened to the concept delivering care with a human touch? Why not propose ways to better educate nurses and family AND fund in-home services? Why do we need a wristwatch that can do everything but open your can of soup and let the dog out? Human contact is important. This guy was bemoaning the fact that the US doesn't fast track this type of technology. It is one thing to promote the use of technology for diagnostics and certain type of biological monitoring, like blood sugar levels or heart beat, or telemedicine consultation for those living in rural areas, but why do we need to monitor where a person is in their home? What is wrong with having a flesh and blood person drop by and check and provide a little care and conversation? Why should any of us want every bit of information available about us as a human being encoded in databytes for the universe?

This stuff disgusts me to no end.

[wake.up.america]

1. It is all based on the capitalistic system which attempts to solve...

problems by increasing sales and "Umsatz"

[cornermouse]

2. Because human contact costs money when everyone charges

for everything they do. Life is but a series of toll gates.

Bottom line profit or money is now more important than people.

[rosesaylavee]

3. You radical!

"...What ever happened to the concept delivering care with a human touch?"

As the population grows, it seems we are desperately trying to get away from that. I don't know why but you bring up a very valid point.

How many of our neighbors do we all know? How often do we talk with our elderly neighbors? Would we know if they had fallen in their kitchens? Would they call us?

This is a serious problem - not just with our elderly population but with our current culture as a whole. If I were to have an "armchair guess" on why this is happening, it would be the amount of dislocation that has happened to our families. How many families remain together in one area any more? How many of us have been transplanted due to our jobs? Continuing with my "armchair" analysis here - this may be why these fundie churches are so popular right now. They have replaced the family unit of 30 to 50 years ago. They now support their members with weekly or daily checkins. And now that the parents are not dictating how the family thinks politically, it is the church that does that for them.

I think I need more caffeine...

edit - to make better sense

[Skidmore]

7. As I think about this, it would be wonderful if there were groups

of health care professionals that would be willing to form cooperatives outside the big business system. And it would be great if groups of people would band together to make certain the needs in the community are met. We need to go back to basics.

I agree with you regarding the role the church has assumed over the past few decades. But we need to return to basics here too. Why are we so hell bent on pursuing the almighty dollar and stuff...tons of stuff...to the detriment of our social networks?

[rosesaylavee]

8. There are groups that do that and I belong

to one. I work for a non-profit that assists the lower income peoples in our area. There is a network of orgs like mine that all know each other and network so that when one of us come upon someone in need and we can't help, we can refer them to another source for help. Is this better than family helping them. Absolutely not. But when they have no family to help and the other agencies aren't helping, I have asked if they belong to a church (synagogue, mosque, etc) that would maybe have monies to assist them.

I assume if someone does not fall into the lower income bracket that their money will pay for assisted care or whatever they need. There is that pesky middle class group tho that doesn't qualify for what these orgs provide and may not have a lot of money to support regular assistance. Don't know what they do other than suffer until they lose enough of their money to qualify as lower income. :think:

[Hello_Kitty]

4. Not to mention you need a freakin' Computer Science degree

Just to use them. I got this Ipod thing recently (not Ipod - another brand) that's the top of the line and supposedly has all these cool features. Except I can figure out how to use 80% of them. I finally figured out how to get music on the damn thing so that's a good start.

I know it's not quite the same as what you're talking about but it's frustrating nonetheless. And there's all this pressure to have the Latest and Greatest. I'm glad I don't have kids because I hear if you don't get them a computer it's worse than child abuse. They'll lag behind the kids that have them.

The medical care issue you raise is disturbing. It's akin to a real-life version of The Matrix where people are warehoused and hooked up to machines. :scared:

[liveoaktx]

5. With you. I'm reading a book right now called "Spychips"-about RFID

that was written by the CASPIAN people. The main idea from patents from a variety of companies was not the ease of use or solving a problem for people, but being able to create a vast marketing database to target individuals based on their habits.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Don't let the objects themselves disgust you

The things are no better or worse than the people who use them.

In the case of reality, it comes down to people using gadgetry as tools. Technology can be -- and has been -- used to enhance human contact as well as to inhibit it. That is the missing factor in high-tech, because those of us who take to it easily often forget that some people don't.

And all information requires context. "Why should any of us want every bit of information available about us as a human being encoded in databytes for the universe?" -- but with no context, the datastream is an undecipherable abstraction. With the right use, it means that if you need an ambulance, they can be dispatched with the correct blood type in stock, the right drugs in the rescue kit, and so on. This is exactly the argument, pro and contra, over RFID (Radio Frequency ID) and browser cookies.

It comes down to the people's control of their information, and the ability to prevent anyone they don't want from "contextualizing" it (such as using it to build enemies' lists or to determine the identities of people of "inferior races"). The gadgetry is secondary, and you'll notice the Nazis were able to get by with much lower tech than we use today.

There's nothing to be disgusted about -- except the tendency we have to let technology control us, rather than the other way around. Which does cover a lot of disgust, I'll agree. The cure, though, is education, awareness, and personal control.

The human spirit will always be able to triumph over engineered silicon -- high-tech sand.

--p!

[Peace Patriot]

9. Good rant! And people are much more efficient in almost all situations

than computers are. (Used any automated answering systems lately? You call in with a simple question, that any human being could answer immediately, and you get lost in an aether of non-human choices, push #1 for this, push #2 for that, push #3 for the other, push #4 to blow up your phone--none of which is relevant.)

Then there is computerized voting. (Push #1 for Bush. Push #2 for Bush. Push #3 for Bush.) A-a-a-a-argh!

What's all this about? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, into the pockets of the superdickie rich. (Push #1 for a trillion dollar deficit. Push #2 for cutting food stamps. Push #3 for dead bodies all over your flooded city. Push #4 for more choices like these.)

I'm sure there are extraterrestrials watching us from outer space, in their starlight powered space ships, and falling on the floor with laughter. Extraterrestrials travel billions and billions and billions of miles just to watch us "voting."

[TallahasseeGrannie]

10. You are a Luddite and a freaking paranoid!

LOL

I hear you and there is no replacement for the personal touch. But I have been a caregiver for an Alzheimer's patient (my dad) who could get down the fire escape faster than I could get off the couch. So I was happy to have an electronic device that let me know he was trying.

But the answer is balance. Because the tools don't work without people to work them.

[Ready4Change]

11. As a computer and IT professional

I agree with you. I've encountered no end of people who think computers should be used to solve each and every one of their problems. They look at me like I'm insane when I say "Ah, that won't work" to some of their proposals.

I am reminded of aircraft autopilots. At first they tried to automate EVERYTHING. Then they ran into problems which their systems couldn't handle, and the pilots were so far out of the loop they took too much time to figure out what was wrong. Bad thing. Newer autopilot systems in use today are designed to keep pilots tied into the flying process, so when things go awry (as they always do) the pilots can do that pilot thing and get the plane back on track.

Automated systems are good, VERY good, at certain things. But there are some things they will NEVER be good at. Those things need a human touch. Your example of nursing is an excellent one.