Robots V Man: Why The Obsession?

I'm not sure who was the first to propose that Mankind's ultimate demise would be brought on by his own sentient robotic creations, but it has caught on with no discernible association to reality whatsoever - except maybe an environmental implication.

Asimov's I, Robot series came out in the 1950's but Fritz Lang's Metropolis appeared in 1927. Since then a slew of apocalyptic films/books on the near extermination of mankind via automaton have been produced including Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive, Runaway with Tom Selleck, the cult classic Blade Runner, The Matrix trilogy, The Terminator series and more recently Tim Burton's 9. Waiting in the wings is Spielberg with something called Robopocalypse (based on a novel). Robopocalypse? It might be good - but what kind of name is that? If it's a satire, then I can understand, but it's going to be hard to take a movie with a name like that seriously.

That said, the main question is why we have become obsessed and fixated on this idea of technology as the bane of mankind - more specifically, technology as deadly, autonomous reservoir of intelligence and choice.  

I can see how our use of technology through biological and nuclear weaponry could lead to a serious crisis. Even the impact of industry on the environment. But robots coming to life and demanding to write poetry and live out a life of free choice? No, not happening. If anybody is going to kill Mankind it will be Mankind - and it will have nothing to do with intelligence, artificial or otherwise. 

If anything, our greatest weakness is the digital age. This was  insightfully implied in John Carpenter's Escape From LA with Kurt Russell reprising his role as Snake Plisskin. A generally bad movie, it had Snake plunging the Earth back to the 'Dark Ages' at the push of a button, wiping away the World's progress by permanently shutting down all power via satellite. Then with eye-patch-like coolness he grunts, 'Welcome to the human race'. We've all wanted to do that. 

Think about it. Everything is going digital, and by extension is becoming highly connected, one mega hard drive crash and we have to start from scratch. Granted, not everything is digital yet, so we should be safe for a few years more - but only a few. 

After the nuclear winter when the remnant of humanity surfaces, significantly stupider than pre-apocalypse, they will hardly know what to do with a laptop, should they find one. A book would be easier to figure out and no batteries necessary. 

What we may be obsessed with is the fact that much of what we fabricate will outlive us, toilet bowls will live for thousands of years, long after we've Tweeted our latest bowel movement to Cyberspace. There is also the Matrix premise that our progress comes at the very cost of our own lives. The energy needed to run our World and its many contraptions is, in essence, our own life energy sacrificed for the sake of profit and comfort. Otherwise, the closest battle between man and machine to date is right below and we clearly win!

The lesson here is clear. The World needs to be a Mac rather than a PC. 

An Open Letter to the Future: Come Early!

If there's one thing consumers hate it's being teased with what they could have but probably never will. Hence those sexy, efficient and alluring concept cars that look like the future we imagined but, 'have no plans for production' are a complete waste of time and frustrate consumers to no end.

This is why the ongoing CES is overshadowed by the promise of the Apple iSlate/Tablet. Consumers are pinning their hopes on the brand that has delivered the future before in the form of the iPod and the iPhone. Apple's attraction is that it doesn't tease consumers with the future, it puts it in their hands.  The iPhone feels, looks and operates like a phone in the future we anticipated when we dreamt of the '21st Century'. But not many other brands or companies seem to have the ingenuity or the will to turn our longings into reality, and those that may manufacture advanced products only do so for the wealthy elite - Apple has managed to place that, 'feeling of the future' in the hands of the Average Joe. Thanks Steve.

But this is not an Apple ad. The frustration consumers feel is deepened by the sense that companies, in particular car companies, have the technology and imagination to produce items of the future right now, but simply choose not to. Take the famous now non-existent GM EV-1. People wanted it, but it was taken away with no explanation (check out the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? for more on that).

So what's the hold-up? Why can't we see more sleek, intelligent and innovative designs in...everything? Whether clothes, transport, kitchen appliances, energy production or communications devices? One can't help but feel some contempt for an age where the  designers of the Eurostar couldn't seem to anticipate one of the World's oldest events: winter. Which, ironically, happens at least once a year (except during the Ice Age when it happened every day), and so really they should have thought about that 'snow' thing.

E-readers are all the rage right now, courtesy of the CES but I have little faith in them. I believe they will be a short-lived fad because people want fewer gadgets that do more rather than a proliferation of gadgets with one or two functions.  A dedicated e-reader is of no use to me and will take up more space in my computer bag that already has my phone, iPod, note pad, Macbook etc. If I get an e-reader, it has to replace something else in my bag apart from the latest novel or work of non-fiction...and we're back to the iSlate.

This again is why we place our hopes in Apple. The iPhone has become many , many things apart from just a phone, thanks to the many apps available, and the hope is that the iSlate will be a similar future-object. The excitement surrounding the iSlate is more than just committed Mac users generating hype, it's the deep longing of a generation for the future they've always wanted (seen mostly in works of fiction) and realized only in false starts and sips too small to quench. Indeed, it is about anticipating being completely surprised by a design and approach we would never have imagined, but that makes practical sense while tantalizing our sense of beauty.

We are waiting for the invention that will herald a change in how we design our world. Waiting for the mind that will take the leap and lead the charge. The company that will say, 'screw the progression of models let's give them the concept car right now!'.  So far Apple has come closest, but we will welcome all comers. Just don't keep us waiting it's getting a bit boring.

Technology.