Noel Scott: Blog

I am finding, nervously, that our hunger for technology may become our Achilles heel. I say this as one who jumped on the techno-bandwagon years before Windows. That was when programming was done in Basic and Assembly Language. I obviously still like working with technology. My 32 Track Digital recording set-up Has opened incredible resources!

Yet, I was reminded during the reporting of Egypt's political demonstrations that the ability to control technology access results in the amazing ability to thwart expression, progress, and daily activity. This is not a new concept. Films such as Failsafe and 2001 made similar observations, but when Egypt pulled the plug on the Internet and cell phones, the resulting effect was a modern day example of what we may yet face. 

In todays Western and Asian society, we've become dependent on the gizmos and what-cha-ma-call-its. I have my wife's cell phone number programmed into my voice activated phone, but I can't recall what that number actually is. If my computer crashes, I feel as vulnerable as when we lose electricity. Now, with all the emphasis on texting (WHY??) and phone internet access, the dependency on technology advances further. And it's not just personal usage...look at all the commerce conducted via internet and networking systems.

In my view, we are as subject to terrorism by tech--sabotage as we are by bombings.

But, of course, that's just me!