'I's Everywhere
by Paul Miller
This month's Wired is all about robots. The special occasion is the release of the movie of Isaac Asimov's nine-story collection I, Robot in a couple of weeks time. The piece by Cory Doctorow is a great introduction to Asimov's robot (some would say social) vision and the interview with Will Smith (who stars in the movie) shows a very different side to the fresh prince but the piece that stood out for me was Little Brother is Watching by Daniel Pink:
'Orwell feared that one day a ruthless, omnipotent state would train cameras on its citizens, surveilling them into obedience. Yet as the gruesome digital photos from Abu Ghraib prison demonstrate, something different can happen. Instead of merciless totalitarians keeping the people in check, citizens can hold the state accountable. Today, armed with a cheap digital camera, Little Brother is watching.'
Fits in neatly with my piece about the See-through Society but alll this makes me wonder about the pros and cons of buying a robot vacuum cleaner for my new flat.
Charlie Tims
oh it's friday. what the hell. when i was an intern paul, i sent you some comments on an article you'd written about communication technology. I tried to explain that mobiles had, and picture messaging would, democratise the orwellian nightmare making us all complicit in a surveillance society; crushing the possibility of love and white lies. the unnatural levels of accountability rendered by 3g communications technologies in personal relationships would be so great that love and trust would never be possible again. I remember it vividly as I'd slung my telephone off Hungerford Bridge the previous week in a bid to become a sort of Keanue Reaves digital love outlaw. needless to say, it didn't last. but come on, i was more interesting than some trendy tech mag a year ago and you wouldn't listen to me. in the Glaswegian vernacular: i call you out!