* * * * *

                         The map is not the territory

> What I cannot build, I cannot understand.
>

“Richard Feynman [1]”

I've ranted against control panels [2]. I've ranted against scripting
langauges [3]. I've ranted against GPS (Global Positioning System) units [4].
I've even ranted about user groups [5].

I certainly come across as a curmudgeon, odd as I enjoy and generally believe
in technology. But recently I've been asking myself, “Myself, why am I such a
curmudgeon?”

That question is proving hard to answer.

Another question that is proving hard to answer is, “when does technology
pass from being a tool to being a crutch?”

I've been trying to answer this since 6:00 pm today (and even though it's
dated the 2^nd, it's now 2:15 am on the 3^rd and I'm still trying to answer
it). I've lost count to the number of drafts I've done, and I've rejected
them all as either too rambly, too incoherent or both.

Even Bunny mentioned that all the GPS horror stories I've presented so far
ignore the hundreds of thousands of successful uses of the invention. For
every plane crash you hear about, you don't hear about the 100,000 plane
landings where nothing happened.

I have found, though that my Don Quixhotesque [6] rants can be classified as:

 1. it renders my knowledge useless (control panels)
 2. people who don't understand the technology abuse it (dynamic languages)
 3. common sense is ignored in favor of the computer (GPS)
 4. the culture is totally alien to my way of thinking (user groups)

On second thought, it can be condensed down to:

* the culture is totally alien to my way of thinking

And while I may have answered why I'm such a curmudgeon, I'm still no closer
to answering the other question.

When does technology pass from being a tool to being a crutch?

Update on Tuesday, November 3^rd, 2009

I got some answers to my last question [7] …


[1] http://www.feynmanonline.com/
[2] http://clusty.com/search?query=control+panels&host=boston.conman.org
[3] http://clusty.com/search?query=dynamic+language&host=boston.conman.org&tb=sitesearch-site&sa=+Search+
[4] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2009/01/23.2
[5] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2009/10/22.1
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote
[7] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2009/11/03.1

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