I’m a 50-something husband, father, author, historian, Methodist, genealogist, fan of Marvel and Star Trek, admirer of railroads, avid reader, travel lover, Anglophile, and appreciator of movies and music.
I’m also a technologist and luddite combined into one. I am a gadget geek, love technology, work as a developer, and use AI daily. That said, I also worry about the effect all of these tools have on people.
Deep down, I harbour unease about what we’ve lost in the technology bargain. Perhaps it’s nothing more than the nostalgic historian in me, but I think before our daily routines became so “connected” we experienced and enjoyed life more fully.
Communication was a skill and art form instead of a commodity. Nature was spectacle and wonder instead of simply a holiday destination. Your Local Area Network was your surrounding community instead of a group of servers exchanging bits and bytes.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.
— Henry David Thoreau
As with any tool, please use technology properly and in correct proportion to the size of the job you are trying to accomplish. Technology is a means, not an end.