Recently I had to make some major upgrades technology wise. Perhaps as a coincidence or perhaps by pattern in the last year I’ve gotten a tablet, a new phone, a new desktop, and a new laptop. Things have either worn out or have become almost obsolescent.
Quite a bit of money involved. But more than that the latest round of hardware and software improvements make me more aware of how integrated our online existence is becoming and how this is beginning to make our offline life also integrated and even dependent on who we are online.
Some examples? As I run Android devices I am tied into the Google play website for an applications. These depend on payments through Google through an account I have. I can in turn buy or pay for anything online with this and have. Any application I buy is immediately available to all the other Android devices. I keep only a few hundred dollars in this account but that is quickly disappearing so I may have to add more or tie in my main account.
Google is also getting into televisions as well and soon if I choose I could buy movies off a Google device plugged to the side of the TV. I may also soon be able to use my Google account offline for food or services.
Another good example is the Microsoft Office package. Once I had to buy physical disks, now it is available by download and I have to pay for it online.
Of course all of these transactions leave a digital paper trail. No matter how innocuous or innocent that trail is, it is still something that I don’t want being recorded.
It is so seductive to fall into that trap isn’t it? You can argue that it will just make my life easier but I argue that it makes me artificially dependent on a service that could be pulled at any moment.
I am very aware of this and I use the service sparingly as possible. It argues that it will make my life easier but really it may end up making my life more complicated.
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