Ubiquitous "new" media technologies in my city

Electricity, water, television were once considered ‘new’ technologies. However, we no longer question them in our ‘modern’ times.

We do question these technologies in modern times: we try to make them more efficient, we try to bring them to places they don't exist, we try to make them bigger and better. We had a huge power failure August 14, 2003 - so Toronto needs to look at various options of generating electricity, people build wells and clean water pumping systems in third world countries and televisions are now flat screens, albeit they plasma or LCD. We question these technologies by evolving them to match ... the status quo. We turn the banal - into something bigger, better and accessible to all. We want to bring water to areas where there is no water! Plasma TV sets in mud huts for all!

Cell phones, ATMs, security cameras, the Internet - are constantly evolving.
We can't seem to not want to "better" things - for the sake of modernity, for the sake of efficiency, for the sake of public safety.

I wonder - if we had placed security cameras downtown sooner, would Jane Creba still be alive today?

I disagree with Stephen Graham - I don't think new technologies are being ignored by cultural and media discourse. There's always someone monitoring, checking and balancing the existence of new media - those who are aware and educated. But I agree - most people take it all for granted - esp. those unaware and uneducated. ... I guess that's what Graham is saying: EVERYONE should be aware, not just watchdogs. Easier said than done. I think capitalism pushes and blinds people from higher truths and perspectives. (i.e.: Coca-Cola, diamonds, Nike, the environment - but these are social not technological examples) ... so buy a new fancy cell phone, use the ATM, regardless you being tracked.

Personally - I would love a chip implanted into me - that had all my valid I.D. and house key and Metro Pass ... so that I wouldn't need to carry it all with me. That would be sheer convenience ... as long as I stay on the right side of the law, of course ... or as long as the main frame doesn't delete my records and render me "without an identity."

My mom is very aware of all this new technology. She refuses to do online banking, let alone pay her bills at an ATM (Royal Bank has set up a new payment system at its machines, which has annoyed her dearly.) She goes to a teller. My mom thinks cameras everywhere are very "Big Brother" and is against them. She believes our privacy is being invaded.

I couldn't care less.

Since we are all so dependent on new technology - it bothers most of us most when it doesn't work! That's the inconvenience really. There's nothing like a blackout in a city of a first-world country to set things straight: to show us exactly what we take for granted, to show us exactly what we really need, to show us exactly what's important and what isn't. Prioritize.

I know the TTC has implemented new security measures. I don't know them all - but the one I notice most, is least technological: they have removed garbage bins from (most) platforms. So if I am waiting for the subway and have garbage in my hand I want to throw out - I can't. I have to hold on to it until I walk to another area or level of the subway ... where there are now clear plastic garbage bags hanging on racks. (This doesn't deter a suicide bomber with a knapsack on his back. But this does deter me from disposing of my garbage in a civil way: This may actual turn me into a litter bug!) Track that TTC!

New technology has allowed society to be closer watched.
Dogs, cats and cars have tracking and GPS chips implanted in them.
When will the residence of Toronto?

One hundred years ago - when a child was born its name was handwritten into a record book. When a bank account was created, the clients name was handwritten into another record book. Now it's typed into a keyboard and uploaded to a huge data bank. This huge data bank is like the old fashioned record book.

Volumes on a shelf = volumes of data.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

So what's the point of all of this? New media, new technology? Simple evolution. Man's desire to ... simplify his daily tasks? To simplify life?