Age of technology. Everyday we use technology, we are surrounded by it, and we are constantly connected online. It's our need and facilitation but at the same time it's our curse. We purchase goods, we read stuff, we download almost everything what we want in a blink of an eye. This is the good part. Without the net it might took a lot of time to do something. Yet without it we used to live and everything was done. Maybe in a little bit sloppy way but final result was the same. Nowadays we want everything to be done here and NOW! And high technology allows us to do it.
Many corporations stands behind these technologies. But without human element we wouldn't achieve what we've got now. One of the corporations is Apple, which allegedly started in a garage of its founder Steve Jobs. According to biography book and documentaries he was responsible for creating new products which are absolutely must-have in modern society. Products like: iPhone, iPad and iPod music player. Reading his biography by Walter Isaacson we can conclude he was a great individual but also he was a pain in the ass for his employees as well as colleagues and family. Jobs is also a subject of the latest documentary called "Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine" by Alex Gibney - investigative director and producer of many documentaries.
In this documentary Gigney is trying to reach many sources of details about Jobs life. He was interviewing many people to find the truth about Apple's ex-CEO. In the beginning plot is about what Steve Jobs did to get to the top and I was watching and thinking: "I'm not getting any revelations since I read Isaacsons book". But shortly after that documentary started revealing some weird facts about Apple as a corporation and about Jobs as an individual who's origin was childhood struggling of having no parents. Frightening part of the movie is about Foxconn - Chinese company where all Apple gadgets are manufacturing. So this is very thin line between innovation and having big idea of changing the world straight in to corporation-style greed and power of possession connected with Chinese employees tragedies. So movie itself with its perfect plot twist is a masterpiece.
But this led me to the point where I was confused: why millions of people around the world are crying after Jobs dead? Of course the world has ended for the great man who might be an innovator for some new technology in future. Most of the fans were touched by Jobs death even if nobody knew him in private. According to Newsweek's article his death triggered global despair similar to Princess Diana's death. Whaatt?? Ok so I'm not into royalty support, but hey! This means CEO of corporation, private company where money is the ultimate goal has the same impact on public like lady who been traveling around the globe to spread the charity. Am I dreaming!? He left great legacy in form of inventions but he didn't predict what effect they'll have on human kind in the next 10 years. They improved our life but also boosted the speed of every single day.
Here are couple of my concerns about Jobs legacy:
- We are facing huge problem with focusing attention on other human being in front of us rather that we're just watching the screens of our devices almost everywhere: in school, at work, in a car, elevator... literary everywhere
- Growing number of employee suicide cases in Chinese factories (not only Apple employees)
- Intensified disproportion between rich and poor caused also by digital devices like smartphones and tablets
- Environment degradation caused by tremendous amount of toxic waste from electronics
- Bemusing societies by giving them "toys" and moving them out of the contact with the nature
- Making people cold-blooded by capturing every single event on their devices (accidents, fails etc)
- Moving people's attention out of other person while they want to interact with us.
I'm not saying Steve Jobs is responsible for all of above. But he is accomplice in my opinion together with other CEO's of major tech companies who knows what's going on in this world like no one else. Yet ability to get more money and power and ego driven behaviors are still on the top of their list. Even if they do it unconsciously it is still their issue to fix it right in the source aka inside their businesses. As a human being on one level I admire what Jobs did to humanity. Unfortunately more and more facts been revealed and my concerns have confirmations. There is a limit between when technology helps and when it's hypnotizing and amusing us. The second argument has stronger position.