cy•borg [sahy-bawrg]
–noun
a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device.
Origin:
1960–65; cyb(ernetic) org(anism)
My iPhone died the other day. For some reason it was just refusing to turn on, while I was out for a ride on my motorcycle. It got me to thinking about just how dependent/reliant I (and many others) are on our mobile phones.
True, some people still see their cells as simply another annoying yet essential form of contact with their harassing wife/boss/parole-office, but for many of us it stopped really being a telephone a LONG time ago, and became an integral part of our daily functionality.
As I sat there giving my wrists a rest – lowered clip-ons look awesome and make the bike a lot of fun, but “comfortable” definitely isn’t an adjective I’d use – I realized I couldn’t use the GPS to check where I was, or where the nearest town was.
Nor could I text my wife and tell her my progress or that I was still alive – a marital requirement after hearing stories of what I get up to on my bike.
Nevermind that, I couldn’t even check how far the next fuel stop was, to stop my 100km-per-tank hippy-mocking bike from leaving me stranded in the middle of the blue mountains.
That’s when I realized. In day-to-day life – and completely ignoring the luxury of having GPS and mobile internet for vehicular purposes – I’d be pretty useless these days without my phone working, charged, and with constant internet access.
I use it to check the train times, while reading up on the latest releases from work that I’d otherwise need to print and carry with me. I use it to find the easiest route to walk home without finding myself in the “less admirable” parts of Redfern as the sun goes down.
I use it to write down notes when I have random ideas on how to improve aspects of the servers I manage, or when I remember something I need from the shops, which would require carrying a notebook (of the dead-tree variety).
I use it to collaborate online with my business-partner on things we need to do that day, when one of us isn’t available for a chat – which would still require the phone. I use the calculator almost hourly, to make up for the fact that I only got three percent in my final math exams.
I use it to calm me down on bad days, by listening to really filthy German electronic music. I use it to call my wife, and discuss what’s for dinner and what we need at the shops via text message and MMS, providing a written record that can then be used as a shopping list.
I use it to keep maintenance logs for my bike, and write down notes after a ride on what bits need attending to for safety and/or performance improvements.
So, our phones help us remember – in my case, a very welcome enhancement – using digital notepads and calendars. They help us enhance our cognitive abilities, using calculators and task-specific software (apps).
They help us capture moments visually, using compact cameras and photo displays. They help us communicate across great distance, using text and voice messaging. They help us with our education, allowing us to access the world’s information via mobile browsers and 3G/WiFi networks. They help us relax, via music and mobile entertainment.
My phone has become an integral part of my life and even though I know I could continue my life perfectly well without it, I openly admit that it would result in a rather large drop in my overall productivity, efficiency, and quality/happiness of life.
The definition of “Cyborg” at the beginning of this post sums it up perfectly; “A person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device.”
So many of us depend on our phones for so many different reason, whether it be running our daily business, to running our lives.
It’s undeniable, however, that the common aspect here is the fact that it aids our daily function. It becomes part of us, and whether you admit it or not, “need” is definitely a word most of us use when our phones break, get lost, or go flat.
Turns out we’re Cyborgs. Awesome
You can read more from Sen on the blog Ctrlrefresh