Has technology become too intimate? In a word, yes. At a time when Apple and similar production teams are competing to try and outsell each other, the stakes have risen to make technology more cutting edge and convenient. In doing so, not only are we greatly losing any privacy that remains, but we are also losing touch with each other.
The latest spark of controversy has come from Apple’s much anticipated release of the Apple Watch. Set to release in early 2015, Apple Watch is Apple’s latest scheme to becomemore involved and more intrusive in our daily lives. The device, worn as one would wear a regular watch, has capabilities of sending messages to friends in addition to giving Facebook and other app updates.
The most disconcerting feature; Apple Watch’s ability to monitor your health. By allowing Apple to monitor and have access to health information such as our heart rate, we are inviting anyone with the technology skill set to monitor our daily routines and henceforth, lose our already limited privacy.
As Apple continues to make strides with creations such as Apple Watch, several important questions should be asked. The first question is, “am I ever truly alone?” In the figurative sense, no, you are not.
As Apple Watch prepares to hit Apple’s wide market, we, as potential consumers, should identify other important questions. Another significant question is whether Apple’s new product is a ploy to learn more about our personal information or if it is beneficial to our daily routines. Despite delivering the instant gratification that our generation craves by enabling us to not have to reach into our pockets for our phones, we are sacrificing more than we are gaining by inviting such an invasive product into our lives.
Will the new product bring us closer together or further apart? From what I see daily, I have no doubt that Apple Watch will further disconnect us. As I walk across campus each day and see iPhones in the hands of almost every student, I am reminded of the sobering fact that we are incapable of talking to one another for extended periods of time unless we have other means of entertainment.
I constantly see people who when dining with friends take out their phones when the conversation lulls to alleviate the silence that once would have forced the group to start a new conversation. Guilty of putting up barriers myself, I know the Apple Watch would only further isolate me from those around me.
Finally, the most important question is, are we too reliant on technology for communication? I want to reiterate that I do believe that we are becoming too reliant on technology in numerous ways. Whether it is relying solely on the Internet for schoolwork or a task such as paying bills online, the moment the Internet is out of our reach, we begin to panic. For this reason above all others, I wholeheartedly believe that the upcoming release of Apple Watch will be a further setback in the art of communication that will only serve to isolate us more than connect us.
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