Marc YachtNever a technocrat, we purchased our first color television in the late 80s and used TV antennas through the mid-90s. We avoided satellite costs until decent TV disappeared. I finally escaped my 60s lifestyle when I received an office-issued cell phone. It was carried in a large shoulder bag and might have had a rotary dial.
After 9/11, the state issued the Health Department satellite phones. They cost a fortune and, to my knowledge, were never used. They may still be buried in a closet – collecting dust. My assigned car now had a red emergency vehicle light to get somewhere fast. A required certification course allowed me to use the light. I never used it and I suspect it is still tucked under a state car seat. The training also allowed me to drive an ambulance or fire engine. Now there was a valuable perk! I have yet to drive either but I remain optimistic.
The bioterrorism scare resulted in the delivery of gas masks, space suits, tons of rubber gloves and hundreds of cots. The challenge required finding room for them. I kept thinking, “Your government dollars at work.” The items were never used except for emergency drills. I recalled the WWII blackout exercises. Children hid under desks awaiting whistling bombs. A decade later came the 50s atomic bomb shelter craze. A lot of people spent a whole lot of money for nothing. After all, the Russians were coming, who could doubt it? They never came.
When the shipment of gas masks came to the health department, I could visualize the gas mask CEO sitting in his office. He spent years hoping to sell a few masks. He receives a call, “This is an emergency. We need 20 million masks by Friday.” Hopefully, the CEO didn’t have a stroke once realizing the call was legitimate.
Nothing compares to the birth and growth of cell phones. They are no longer called cell phones. Mine is currently an Android. I perceive robots walking about. However, never ahead of the technical curve, I finally ditched my flip top, which found its way into my pool more than once. There are Candy phones, Razr phones, Clamshells and Elites. One must remember the Blackberry, iPhones, Fire phones and T-Mobile Sidekicks.
Cell phone mania has impacted the American psyche and way of life. A few years back, a person wandering down the street talking to himself would be viewed as crazy. Men in white coats might take him or her away. Now, that same individual having a conversation with an unseen person has become an accepted norm. The same goes for those chattering away using Bluetooth while alone in their cars.
Cells phones simply give idle people something to do. It is common to see hordes of people walking the streets talking to no one in particular. Everyone appears to be in conversation all the time. No one takes the time to “smell the roses.”
We have become a nation of multitasking “walk-talkers.” It common to see someone with a touch screen, iPod, or Android in hand chatting, searching their mail, checking the news or looking at financial portfolios. Cell phones have interfered with personal face-to-face communication and led us to collective autism.
Head-to-head discussions are becoming passé. Future human interactions will be through ear pieces and mini-microphones. Humans may become unseen, unrecognized and reduced to broadband frequencies.
Dr. Marc Yacht is a retired physician. Column is courtesy of Context Florida.
