Technology is advancing away from the common person so how will they deal with it when it breaks in the future

Answer 1

Au contraire. It is getting easier and easier for the common man to access technology.

This is an isolated case I am about to explore, but it is somewhat indicative of the advancement of which you speak.

Not that long ago if you wanted to buy a DVD player it would cost you literally hundreds of dollars. NOW basic players can be purchased at a number of big box retailers for less than 30 bucks. If it breaks, buy a new one.

The advent of many new products allow us to keep in touch better; communicate faster and send info around the globe literally in seconds.

There will always be technologies that are beyond the scope of Joe Public, but when those breakdown it is more of a community problem. If say a power station goes on the fritz or the power control for the light rapid transit.

I think tech is much more friendly and accessible and am not worried in the slightest about future breakdowns.

TFTP

Answer 2

I'm going to take a slightly different approach. When you refer to "it breaks in the future," maybe what you are talking about is the "technology bubble."

It is true that we are advancing to the point that most people cannot understand the high technology that drives our society. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find well-qualified workers--our school systems don't seem to be turning out students with good mathematical and science skills. At some point, will our technology advance to a point that we can no longer sustain it, because the "common man" can't keep up?

Karl Jaspers wrote an article ("The Axial Age of Human History") which addresses this point. He suggests that the collapse of the Greek society--where philosophy and mathematics and science were really born--occurred because things were developing so quickly that the common person could not keep up. Thus, they reached a level of "development" that they could no longer sustain, and the result was the collapse of their society.

While I am not a pessimist, I have to admit that I can foresee a similar future for ourselves if something doesn't change in the way we approach public education. The average person has no hope of keeping up in a high-tech world. When the technology bubble bursts, we will find ourselves spiraling downward--while other nations (who have done a better job of educating their children) take over as the dominant world powers.

Answer 3

I think it is, and it will just continue. If your CD player breaks its true you buy another one. But can you walk out in the woods round up the materials you need and build another CD player, I doubt it.

The last man that knew everything there was to know died thousands of years ago. Now we are specialized and don't know how to build a fraction of the technology we employ.

Its like Scott Adams (dilbert creator) says. Most of us only have the basic intelligence necessary to safely handle a sharp stick. We are cave people with Nuclear bombs.

We will continue as we have for the last few thousand years being dragged into the future by a few extremely bright people whether or not we want to go there or not.

Answer 4

Buy a new one.

Tech companies usually pay for their advances by counting on the fact that they have people continuously buying their same products. Many times when people buy new computers it is not because they were unhappy with the speed or capability, it's because the parts are not designed to last forever. As a businessman you would see that you can either have everybody in your market buy your product once and be happy, or you can give them something that will please them for a few years and have that same number of people paying you every few years for a new one.

Answer 5

I'm afraid I can't agree with you. Technology only produces those things that mankind demands... Pure drinking water, better sewage disposal, television, medicines. Can you name one thing that technology has produced that has not benefitted mankind?

Before you say the atom bomb and global warming, let me remind you that the bomb was necessary to end the war and saved thousands of American lives. And global warming, if it exists will be solved by technology!

Answer 6

When your $20 DVD player breaks, do you pay $50 to get it fixed? - no, you buy a new one.