What does being Connected really mean to you? A few years back, just having 4 bars on your cellphone all the time meant connectivity. I am sure you will agree with me if I say that definition is not true anymore.
Being Connected means many things to many people. For me, it means the ability to do the things I do from anywhere and at anytime... effortlessly and seamlessly. I want to be able to start a task on one device at one time and end it on another device at another time without too much effort. I want fewer devices to worry about, fewer apps to install and fewer passwords to remember. Connectivity to me means simplifying my life. Remember those days where you didn't have to worry about all the gadgets... When Apple still meant the fruit and not the company (trying googling apple). I want those days back but still want to be connected.
We are in a world where we have access to multiple devices at any given time... our phones, tablets, laptops, for heaven's sake even cars these days.. There are at least 10 ways to do a task on these devices.. Can you count how many ToDo apps there are ? How many ways did you experiment managing your shopping list ? It is a world full of options.. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming. I call it Electronic Over dose. I am sure that day is not far behind when we are going to have a "No Device day" every year (if it is possible) or your doctor would starting prescribing a "Low gadget Life Style" to cure ailments like Hypertension, Anxiety etc.
I don't think this issue went unnoticed. Big conglomerates are trying to address this issue. They are trying to consolidate into what are these days called Ecosystems. Apple iCloud, Microsoft Live etc. Google, Amazon and various other companies are not far behind... They have their own solutions. Ofcourse, they are not doing this out of goodwill. They want to keep us in their eco-system so that they can make more money of us. I have a weird feeling that even my street corner tiny dry cleaner is working on an ecosystem. Drycleaners, tailors, Clotheirs etc.
IMO, the concept of EcoSystems is not a bad thing. The biggest reason for the Electronic Overdose is the fragmentation of information and fragmentation of features. In the past (and even today), I have to go to one app on one device to do one thing and to another app on another device to something else .. I ended up having so many apps on so many devices to do so many things, that keeping track of all these became a big chore. I have a ToDo list app on my phone, but many a times I don't remember that I have the app and so don't even look at it defeating the idea of having it in the first place ..... huh ... Giving you a head ache ????
Ecosystems , for most cases, simplify things. For example, I choose google as my ecosystem. My main, contacts, email, photos, videos, social, documents are all on this ecosystem and it works pretty well. Fortunately all devices these days let me access and use all this information on all devices. I am not a big fan of the google interface though.
Are you worrying about Privacy ? Forget it !!! Our privacy is long gone ....Try googling yourself. You will be surprised what turns up. These days anyone can buy anyone's life history for about 40 dollars online ? and it is legal ..
So, Do I feel connected ? Not entirely. But we are getting there.
Being Connected means many things to many people. For me, it means the ability to do the things I do from anywhere and at anytime... effortlessly and seamlessly. I want to be able to start a task on one device at one time and end it on another device at another time without too much effort. I want fewer devices to worry about, fewer apps to install and fewer passwords to remember. Connectivity to me means simplifying my life. Remember those days where you didn't have to worry about all the gadgets... When Apple still meant the fruit and not the company (trying googling apple). I want those days back but still want to be connected.
We are in a world where we have access to multiple devices at any given time... our phones, tablets, laptops, for heaven's sake even cars these days.. There are at least 10 ways to do a task on these devices.. Can you count how many ToDo apps there are ? How many ways did you experiment managing your shopping list ? It is a world full of options.. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming. I call it Electronic Over dose. I am sure that day is not far behind when we are going to have a "No Device day" every year (if it is possible) or your doctor would starting prescribing a "Low gadget Life Style" to cure ailments like Hypertension, Anxiety etc.
I don't think this issue went unnoticed. Big conglomerates are trying to address this issue. They are trying to consolidate into what are these days called Ecosystems. Apple iCloud, Microsoft Live etc. Google, Amazon and various other companies are not far behind... They have their own solutions. Ofcourse, they are not doing this out of goodwill. They want to keep us in their eco-system so that they can make more money of us. I have a weird feeling that even my street corner tiny dry cleaner is working on an ecosystem. Drycleaners, tailors, Clotheirs etc.
IMO, the concept of EcoSystems is not a bad thing. The biggest reason for the Electronic Overdose is the fragmentation of information and fragmentation of features. In the past (and even today), I have to go to one app on one device to do one thing and to another app on another device to something else .. I ended up having so many apps on so many devices to do so many things, that keeping track of all these became a big chore. I have a ToDo list app on my phone, but many a times I don't remember that I have the app and so don't even look at it defeating the idea of having it in the first place ..... huh ... Giving you a head ache ????
Ecosystems , for most cases, simplify things. For example, I choose google as my ecosystem. My main, contacts, email, photos, videos, social, documents are all on this ecosystem and it works pretty well. Fortunately all devices these days let me access and use all this information on all devices. I am not a big fan of the google interface though.
Are you worrying about Privacy ? Forget it !!! Our privacy is long gone ....Try googling yourself. You will be surprised what turns up. These days anyone can buy anyone's life history for about 40 dollars online ? and it is legal ..
So, Do I feel connected ? Not entirely. But we are getting there.
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