Having just
spent the best part of two days trying to figure out software and computer networking
'issues', I have cut my losses and made a call to an expert. He is coming
tomorrow to sort it all out. Those who work from home will be familiar with this
dilemma: whether to spend time in order to save money or to spend money in
order to save time. Those in salaried employment, meanwhile, will be more
familiar with the concept of taking a coffee break while the IT department gets
to work.
Of course it
has never been necessary to understand how technology works in order to use it.
Most of us drive cars, operate computers, make phone calls etc. without an
inkling of the underlying electro-mechanical principles on which the technology
functions. We accept the fact that someone, somewhere has invented a device
which makes life easier for us and, if it goes wrong, there is someone,
somewhere who knows how to fix it. Advice in this matter is offered in this pithy,
early-industrial-era rhyme:
Lord Skinflint tried to fix his
electric light
It struck him dead - and serves him
right
It is the duty of the nobleman
To provide employment for the artisan
...which is
also an unflinching endorsement of the economic theory known as
"trickle-down".
But the accelerating
pace of technological advance is so rapid that we are challenged simply to keep
up with its inventions. There was a time - not so long ago - when we had
fixed-line telephones and communication was simple, if limited. When the bell
inside the handset rang you would say "I wonder who that can be?", pick
it up and respond politely to whoever was on the other end (of a very long
cable). Nowadays, if the landline
rings, it is easy to guess who is calling: during the week it will be a marketing
call; on a Sunday evening it will be an ancient relative who is still under the
impression that landlines are owned by the Post Office and that it is cheaper
to use them after six pm.
I am never
intentionally rude to elderly relatives who call, but pre-recorded marketing
pitches are fair game: since machines have no feelings I usually say something
nasty and slam the phone down. But the other day I did pick up in the middle of
a Wednesday afternoon because I was expecting a pre-arranged call. I said
"Hello" in my friendliest tone, only to be answered by a brief
silence and a recorded "Goodbye" which, eerily, had about it the
unmistakable smirk of 'Gotchca!'
I think
technology was trying to tell me something about etiquette for, while we may
pride ourselves on being quick to adopt all the devices it offers, there is a
degree of uncertainty about what constitutes polite behaviour in their use,
especially concerning phones. When, for example, is it more appropriate to send
a text than to make a phone call? Is it socially acceptable to respond to email
and texts when in company? It has been argued that these questions will be
resolved in due course: etiquette takes time to develop and become adopted because
it is a complex amalgam of social interactions. There is no downloadable app
for it. Or perhaps there is? If so, it is surely based on the principle that etiquette
is nothing more than manners, and what defines manners is a sensitive awareness
of the feelings of others.
But there is
another thing that lags behind technological advance: vocabulary. Phones, for
example, now make all kinds of alerting sounds but we still say that they ring.
It's about time we found a new verb for that so, if you have any suggestions, I
would love to hear from you. Just give me a bell.
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