View Full Version : Connectivity!B
CaseyMiller
1-19-13, 12:52am
Since succumbing to getting a smart phone, all this connectivity is mind blowing to me. I can easily download/track almost every dollar I spend. I can easily record all life's events including location, pics, video, who I was with etc..etc..etc... Yelp, Google, FB, on-line everything...you get my point.
Still, with all of this connectivity so much goes still unconnected. I still cannot download my purchases history from my grocery store. My paycheck is on direct deposit but I still cannot download it directly into tools such as Quicken. I still need to use third party software to do my taxes. And, while many apps do talk to each other, the communication is not as seamless as it could be.
But I think this lack of connectivity is changing rapidly. Below is where I think it is heading...
Ability to upload/track income data which seamlessly ties into purchase/expense activity. Every dollar will be easily tracked from income-> expenses -> taxes. Seamless drill down capability into the data to show date, quantity, description etc... We will no longer have to do tax preparation. Instead, the IRS will send us a link to our tax data which we will have to approve or adjust manually.
Everything else will be linked as well. Wearing smart glasses, like everyone else, walk into a room and see everyone's name and other info. Track and be tracked in almost every aspect of our lives. Receive on-line alerts when almost anything happens in our life. Mail is delivered - alert! Back door opens - Alert! Blood Pressure above 150 - Alert!
How soon? I have no doubt all of the above will be very common well within three years.
Your predictions?
I think a lot of that will happen far slower than you think, for entirely non-technical reasons.
Videophones have existed since the early 60s. They've never caught on. Why? IMHO, it's because people don't want video with most of their phone calls. It doesn't serve them. You can't lie about working late when the video clearly shows you at a bar, maybe with someone you shouldn't be with. :|( You'd have to dress for those teleconferences at work. And you couldn't blank the screen without people wondering what you were hiding. Skype and similar services are a different deal -- you get to opt in to those.
I also think there should be alternatives to the text message. Not text messages specifically, just the idea that a notification always has to show up on a computer (handheld or otherwise). I'd be fine with a little LED on the door jamb or by the thermostat/alarm/home control center that lit up when mail was delivered. I don't need a text message or an email or a tweet for that. That message does not hold the same urgency for me as, say, DW letting me know she'll be home later than planned.
I'm also not sure who or what entity will be the central repository for purchases, income, tax withholding, etc. Any private entity housing all that data will want to/need to monetize that, which either will mean charging people for storing their data or using the data for advertising purposes a la Google. Having the government store all that information will give a lot of people aneuresyms. It might prompt a shift to a cash-based society as no other kind of transaction could be hidden. Then there's that whole resistance to open standards for computers, because it removes the lock-in that proprietary data formats provides. And whether people really want a consolidated report that shows how much dining out they do or how much chocolate they consume.
I agree that, with a near-universal source of connection (the Internet) it should be possible to better link all our disparate sources of data. I think it is happening slowly. But I also think it will be a victim of numerous non-technical issues that, if eliminated, will leave lots of people unhappy and, possibly, poorer.
OH GOD NOOOOOO!!!! :-)! I am probably one of the least electronicly connected people on the planet (yet seem to have more rl connections then most people I know) and am finding it more and more difficult to get away from the endless connectivity of all things. I personally hate the whole cataloging of every aspect of my life thing, so try to aviod it if at all possible. I do know I am very unusual in that though. I often go on "connectivity-fasts" fairly often (going on one starting tomorrow for a few weeks - can't wait!!)) just to relax and enjoy the simple basics of what is actually happening around me instead of just on a screen. When I travel (which is often) I don't take a laptop or smart phone with me, and I find it very peaceful. I am also private, and unless I choose to share my info, photos, etc.. with others, I don't want anyone else (strangers) to be able to put on a pair of glasses and instantly know who I am, and know everything about me. Or any of the other things Casey mentioned. The Horror!!!!!! :devil:
For predictions, well I do think that more people will want more connectivity but I am seeing a trend with friends who seem to want less - at least at a personal level. They have spent so much time hooked into some form of social media that they now are just ...done. They want more RL friends and activities and less tech based ones. So I think we'll see more people having practical tech, but less social media use. Who wants to look back o their lives and realize they spent it all in front of a screen. So whether it's interacting with their "friends" electronicly rather then IRL, or spending tons of time downloading all ones personal data, info, facts and figures to share or in order to track ones self, I see that becoming less over time. Maybe that's just wishful thinking.
"I am also private, and unless I choose to share my info, photos, etc.. with others, I don't want anyone else (strangers) to be able to put on a pair of glasses and instantly know who I am, and know everything about me."
Same here. That won't fly for security reasons--unless it's strictly managed among friends. But I've been wrong before, and privacy is quickly becoming a quaint relic of an earlier time.
If records are maintained, it will be heaven on earth for genealogists. I have a copy of a grocery list from my great-grandmother's household that couldn't be more prosaic, but it's still a little treasure to me.
CaseyMiller
1-19-13, 4:36pm
I'm also not sure who or what entity will be the central repository for purchases, income, tax withholding, etc. Any private entity housing all that data will want to/need to monetize that, which either will mean charging people for storing their data or using the data for advertising purposes a la Google.
I think it will be an entity that Google that soon (already) will kick this in high gear. Imagine if Google merged with Facebook and few other large tracking entities. They would rule the data world. Far fetched true but not impossible.
As far as acceptance by the population - it would be on volunteer status only (at first). But, like the introduction of debit cards, people that embrace the open technology will eventually move far faster than those that don't, thus, forcing those that resist to conform or be left in the dust. This is already happening with the prevalence of smart phones.
A single repository for all this data is hard to visualize. But, it would only take a several large corporations to implement such a practice that the rest would quickly fall in line. After all, its all stored electronically now. It's just not connected.
I think it will be an entity that Google that soon (already) will kick this in high gear. Imagine if Google merged with Facebook and few other large tracking entities. They would rule the data world. Far fetched true but not impossible.
Frankly, if Google ends up being The Repository To The World, I will start treating the First Amendment like many people regard the Second Amendment -- you can have my data when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. I have very carefully avoided Google. I will not buy an Android phone or tablet. I do not use Google to search. I do not use gmail or Google Plus or Google Office and I watch as little YouTube as I can. Despite their "do no evil" mantra, Google is not in it for the public good. They are in it for Google. And I don't trust them a bit. And I am not giving it away to a private entity for free if I can help it.
As far as acceptance by the population - it would be on volunteer status only (at first). But, like the introduction of debit cards, people that embrace the open technology will eventually move far faster than those that don't, thus, forcing those that resist to conform or be left in the dust. This is already happening with the prevalence of smart phones.
I'll probably be one who is left in the dust voluntarily being that I have little or no use for a lot of the tech that is already available today at least the tech that tracks my doings and/or invades my privacy. And yep, I still pay cash-money rather then use debit or credit cards for nearly everything. And would continue to do so until they pry my dollar bills out of my cold dead hands :-)! I think that a lot of people may feel somewhat similair - especially when it comes to the issues of privacy and the ability to track everyone's doings at all levels. I realize I'm a lone Luddite in a sea of people who may really want every aspect of their lives to be connected and available to all, I think that once things like that are implemented on a non-voluntary basis, then there will be a small rebellion.
I realize I'm a lone Luddite in a sea of people who may really want every aspect of their lives to be connected and available to all, I think that once things like that are implemented on a non-voluntary basis, then there will be a small rebellion.
As I watch our privacy being shredded with the Patriot Act and other government bullying of information carriers, I'm reminded of the many people who told me that there was nothing wrong with those invasions so long as it identified some ill-defined "bad guys". "I've got nothing to hide," they said.
I wonder if those folks will feel the same way about privacy when it's their beer purchasing or voting records or unreported income on the line...
Steve, what search engine do you use? I have been using Google for years but am ready to make the switch.
As I watch our privacy being shredded with the Patriot Act and other government bullying of information carriers, I'm reminded of the many people who told me that there was nothing wrong with those invasions so long as it identified some ill-defined "bad guys". "I've got nothing to hide," they said.
I wonder if those folks will feel the same way about privacy when it's their beer purchasing or voting records or unreported income on the line...Oh the Patriot Act - don't get my inner-rant started :-)! At least, as far as I know, the Patriot Act doesn't "share" all my personal info with every other person on the planet. That is more what I worry about - or maybe more what bothers me - is just how much of my personal day to day doings can be tracked and read/seen by anyone else. Right now if I put a photo on the internet, say at this site, I assume it's out there for anyone to see even if I really only meant it for this site but I still remain "Spartana" not my real name linked to the photo by some software. But once I am "connected" then my "real" name would appear in any photo I posted here, thus losing the anyonymity of forums like these. Just a small example of why I like to control whatever data I have and use, and not let some software do it for me.
Steve, what search engine do you use? I have been using Google for years but am ready to make the switch.
Simone, I use DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgo.com/?t=). They don't track searches. There are DDG plugins to replace the search fields on browsers like Firefox so it's still easy to use. I find the results are not quite as voluminous as Google, but much of the extra Google provides in results is -- well -- junk. It's made-up blogs, several versions of the same site, etc. So it's rare that I would find something useful on Google that I would not find on DDG. DDG also has many useful shortcuts -- to search an entry on Wikipedia, I can type Medgar Evers !w and it takes me right there. One thing DDG does not yet do is maintain their own image index, but they link to Bing for that. Someday maybe....
That is more what I worry about - or maybe more what bothers me - is just how much of my personal day to day doings can be tracked and read/seen by anyone else.
I understand what you're saying. I, too, prefer to control what is done with my privacy. I don't draw much of a distinction between Google selling searches I do for a particular medical condition (which I may or may not have) and the government leaning on my wireless provider or ISP to provide records for or access to my account because they're trying to track down some illusory terrorist activity. It's the equivalent of killing dolphins in a tuna net and I wish more people understood that private data should remain as private as one wants to keep it. It should not be harvested "just in case" and it should not be sold unless I want to sell it and make money on it.
Thanks for mentioning the Firefox plug-in. I tend to forget about DuckDuckGo.
Thanks, Steve. I bookmarked DDG on this iPad because I don't know if I can set it as my search engine. The only pre-set choices on Safari seem to be Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
Thanks, Steve. I bookmarked DDG on this iPad because I don't know if I can set it as my search engine. The only pre-set choices on Safari seem to be Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
You're welcome, Simone! Here (http://help.duckduckgo.com/customer/portal/articles/472033-safari-ios-) are instructions for implementing DDG on the iPad (use the second set of instructions). I have not done this myself and I don't know if you feel comfortable doing it, but at least there is a procedure.
You're welcome, Simone! Here (http://help.duckduckgo.com/customer/portal/articles/472033-safari-ios-) are instructions for implementing DDG on the iPad (use the second set of instructions). I have not done this myself and I don't know if you feel comfortable doing it, but at least there is a procedure.
My device is not "jailbroken," so I cannot get to iFile to start process. I am a little wary of trying to break out as my skills aren't that honed. Until I am more confident I'll rely on remembering to use the DDG bookmark.
Thanks again for your help.
Oh the Patriot Act - don't get my inner-rant started :-)! At least, as far as I know, the Patriot Act doesn't "share" all my personal info with every other person on the planet.
No, just the important ones.
No, just the important ones.I don't know - a YouTube video showing up online for all the world to see of me (with my name and address and all vital stats) dancing like Seinfield's Elaine might be even more devastating then the Feds learning I rented the DVDs "Pride and Prejudice" and "Zombie Apocalypse 3-D" from the library last week :-)!
The Duckduckgo site is worth exploring to give google a break for my info. Thanks.
I don't know - a YouTube video showing up online for all the world to see of me (with my name and address and all vital stats) dancing like Seinfield's Elaine might be even more devastating then the Feds learning I rented the DVDs "Pride and Prejudice" and "Zombie Apocalypse 3-D" from the library last week :-)!
Lol...not easy to get that image out of my mind! My hometown paper runs a header every day on the front page that says "If you don't want it printed, don't let it happen". It was pretty sage advice in 1868 when the paper started, but seems even more so in the digital age.
shadowmoss
1-29-13, 2:46pm
I use dogpile.com, which goes out to several search engines and gives me the combined results. I also hope it blocks my identity, but I need to check on that.
Lol...not easy to get that image out of my mind! My hometown paper runs a header every day on the front page that says "If you don't want it printed, don't let it happen". It was pretty sage advice in 1868 when the paper started, but seems even more so in the digital age.Yes I should be more careful what I do in public :-)!
I guess I look at the Patriot Act as an invasion of privacy, where as things like the OP mentioned as more of a lack of privavcy. While the feds may want to make sure I'm not a terrorist or a threat to society (and they may wonder if they actually did see me dance!), they generally won't do anything with info they gather about me - probably never. However, I can see someone video taping me dancing with their Smart Phone, then using a facial recognition software app to ID me, then another app to scan the internet for the gazzillion databases that would exist with all my info like the OP ideas suggested, and put all that info out there for the world to see. Heck there is probably an app already out there that will send the videoand all my info to everyone I have ever e-mailled, tweeted, or friended, et al. It can be sent to my work, my BF, on and on - all without my permission or even knowlegde. That's way more scarier then the Patriot Act to law abiding moi. Of course the Feds would get a copy of the video too and determine that I MUST be mentally ill to dance like that so ban me from a firearms purchase :-)!
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