Posted on 01/05/2011 10:30:58 AM PST by hoagy62
Well, the Consumer Electronics Show (or CES as it's better known) opens in Las Vegas tonight. The keynote speaker, as it was last year, is Microsoft CEO Steve "I'm a bald, ugly guy who has more money than you know what to do with in your lifetime" Ballmer. According to those that follow such things, the two big things that'll be highlighted at the CES this year are A) tablet computers, and B) getting everything you own connected to the Internet.
Tablet computers are starting to be a huge thing. Since the iPad was so successful, everyone wants to get in on the act. That's no surprise.
The second part is kind of disturbing, though. What would life be like having just about everything you own connected to the 'Net? Think about it...
A dishwasher that could go online if it breaks down and get a diagnosis of what's wrong...
A refrigerator that can give menu suggestions based on what you have...
An oven that can call the Fire Department if you burn the cookies (Okay...that's a little absurd, I'll admit)....
Some would call this kind of technological ability "cool", and it certainly has the 'charm' of something new and cutting-edge. But...what about some of the possible consequences? Imagine the following...
A man's cell phone rings: "Hello, Snerdman? This is the Personnel Department. You called in sick this morning, but so far on this 75-degree today we see that you have managed to shop at Central Mall, play 9-holes at Wilson Meadows (too bad about going 5 over par on the 6th)and you are now squarely in the middle of Samuel's Beach, 85 yards north of the 4-way stop. The boss says you have 45 minutes to drag your butt back to work, 'sick' or not."
Or this...She says: "Can you turn up the heat in here a little bit? It's so cold there's frost on the inside of the windows and I can see my breath!" Her co-worker says: "I keep trying, but the public utility's PTO (private thermostat override) program is supposedly out of whack and we're being restricted to subsistence level service until their IT folks straighten it out."
Or this... A police officer knocks on door: "Ms. Dolores Driver? We have a court summons for you. During the last 30 days, your onboard electronic driving monitor recorded you driving 71 MPH in a 60 MPH zone and failing to slow sufficiently when passing a roadside construction crew. You sped through a 20 MPH School Zone at 27 MPH, and to make matters worse it was 3:35:17 PM on a Thursday. Your driver-ID ignition interlock ("anti theft") device confirms that you were behind the wheel during each infraction."
Or even this...a man returns from mailbox. He says "Good grief! Look at all the junk mail from wacked out political extremist organizations! There have to be a dozen flyers asking for money, promoting extremist candidates, or offering to reveal secrets about the opposing political party! Where did all this stuff come from? His wife says: "See! I warned you not to tune into that so-called 'news network'. They know we're watching, so what else can you expect?"
Could this be our future? Do the folks at the CES ever think about THESE possible consequences?
How about the XBox Kinect sending it’s pictures back to M$ for database storage.
Turn it to always on and hey a television right out of 1984
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