Technology & Human beings (i phone 4GS)

Steve Jobs died today !!! He was someone who has impacted our day to day life, even if many of us don't possess a Macbook, iphone,ipad or an ipod. When I heard the news, I felt that the world has lost someone who was a guiding force. I felt sorry as if I had lost someone very familiar. I opened Facebook and found out as expected that many of us felt the same way. I would be very happy and satisfied with my life, if on the last day of it, I know that I have created even 1/10000th of the impact that he has created on human life today.

Incidentally yesterday only Apple launched iphone 4GS. I had thought of writing this post prior to today's tragic news. I was watching the demo of i-phone yesterday and was awestruck to see the changes that this technology can bring to human life. I mean people can buy an omniscient & never forgetting assistant for themselves. Its like you have got a Genie for yourself. In last 10 years, the internet has impacted our lives drastically. Google has virtually precluded the need to remember anything. I think about the time when people with good memory, knowledge of things had a distinct advantage over others but that advantage has diminished in the past few years since information is everywhere spread on internet now.

This led me to thinking of the way in which human has changed because of its inventions. Our ancestors possessed great physical strength. They had to protect themselves from wild animals and had to hunt for food themselves. At that time people with higher physical strength were leaders of the group. Then the fire weapons were invented which obviated need for physical strength. Then Strategic & political skills, vision provided people edge over others. Simultaneously physical strength of average human also decreased. After further progress of Science and specially after invention of Computer importance of mental skills increased. People who possessed great intelligence got an edge over others. But because of the lack of physical activity various lifestyle diseases became prevalent. Then the Gyms became popular. People started going to gym to keep themselves fit.

I was wondering with the current invention of Apple and many such future enhanced versions need to remember, even calculate or applying logic will be obviated. For instance if I am working in Corporate Banking, my future phone will be capable of remembering various techniques, calculations that I do in my mind currently and it will do them for me. My life will become very comfortable. But with this kind of invention, we will hardly exercise our mind. Then some diseases like amnesia may become prevalent. On some day a concept of Mental gym will come in.
In these mental gyms you will possibly go after coming from work and solve a sudoku puzzle to keep your mind fit. Well, you may say that this is my wild imagination which to certain extent it actually is, I wouldn't agree though that it is impossible to happen in our lifetime.

Technology has impacted us greatly in past few years. But because of technological inventions if human capability to think diminishes, the technology itself will thwart its progress. What will that human be then? I mean the devices like iphone 4GS will become our need rather than luxuries that they are today !!! You can again say that this is a far fetched conclusion, I wouldn't disagree to that. But I am sure you will see some merit in my argument. I just wonder that the world may never remain the same after Apple iphone 4GS ;-)