A Chip Off The Whole Block

                                                                                  
“Ah, for the good old days.” I'll bet you've heard that before. It represents a generational confrontation. The older takes issue with some of the changes in society which have occurred since their own youth. We say it of our times and the faults of our children, which are numerous. Our parents said it of us; their parents said it of them; and on back throughout history.

But this time it's different.

Recently two terrorists committed mayhem at the Boston Marathon. Three were killed and hundreds were maimed and injured – many seriously. My particular interest, however, is not the terrorism itself, but the fact that the bombs that were used appear to have been triggered by some electronic device. Murder, which has been a part of our history since Cain and Abel, has, in recent years, teamed up with computers and chips to make chaos, pandemonium, and terrorism easier to effect and harder to prevent. The toll at the marathon – both the human toll and the destruction of the local streets and stores – was devastating, but the incident in Boston was certainly not the first of its kind, although it has provided a good deal of publicity for the technique. We have achieved the distinction of being able to destroy something or someone from the other side of the world.

The integrated circuit was, for all practical purposes, developed in the nineteen fifties,ⁱ and a Nobel Prize was awarded to Robert Kilby in 2000 for his work in bringing about this revolution. Even before the chip changed everything, however, societal disruption by television had already taken place. Idiotic local news shows had made everything banal or titillating. “Will the burning down of your house mean any change for you?” “How do you feel about your wife being raped and murdered?” Intrusive reporters asked stupid and insensitive questions. Their local “features” crowded out the real news. (Now we've advanced to “reality” programing. “Reality” attempts to imitate reality, only not very well. It's popular, but it's all pretense. And there is certainly no art in it. As long as there are clouds and ether, though, it will continue to plague us. )

But even though such gossip has remained on the air, and now, supported by electronics, we reveal all there is to know about ourselves. With the various social media and the ability to upload our most mortifying moments for everyone to see, we no longer need aspiring “investigative” reporters as our intermediaries. We can create cybergossip, or embarrass ourselves,ⁱⁱ because we think others care or are interested. We're exhibitionists and the computer chip has revolutionized our lives. And while there are untold improvements that have been brought about by modern electronics, the negatives make it unclear if we are really better off. A listing of some of those negativesⁱⁱⁱ may put some of the progress into perspective:

1. The addiction of the screen. Some view it as a psychiatric disease.
2. The inactivity and related health issues caused by that addiction.
3. The cost of the devices, and the services for them – both for the wireless provider and for the electronics repairman.
4. The costs of the various applications – both for the applications and for the things that are so easy to do and to buy since you never have to leave your house.
5. Loss of privacy associated with the presence of personal information on line that is available to the increasing number of people around the world who know how to get it.
6. The costs associated with hacking and identity theft. Among the information accessible by hackers are passwords, account numbers, and any social security and bank information that you probably thought were safe.
7. Improper actions caused in the stock market which may result from computer programs which automatically respond to monitored information, even if it isn't true. A few weeks ago there was a precipitous fall in the market^iv due to automatic responses to a “Tweet” containing false information.
8. Penetration of firewalls in governmental agencies like the Pentagon resulting in loss of security. Similar mischief might be caused in other agencies like the IRS, FDA, Fannie Mae, and all the rest. Cyber attacks are now a great cause for concern, especially those arising in other countries, and may be aimed at spying on us as well as disrupting our government's functions. According to recent news, China has been waging “cyberwar” against us for years.
9. Hacking for the purpose of industrial espionage. That's one of China's projects.
10. Hacking for the purpose of obtaining mailing lists and personal information held by commercial and governmental organizations.
11. Spam, scams,^v fraud, phishing, and other personal intrusions. It's so easy now to contact huge numbers of people simultaneously. That's what happened when someone – apparently overseas – caused the stock market to tank.
12. The unwanted interruptions and annoyance and cost of “robo” and live junk telephone calls on cell phone units – not that they're any great pleasure on land lines. (Note: Don't call on “Do not call” lists for help. They're not worth the effort, and those supposed to compel their use have sometimes given up. They – the lists and the enforcers – frequently don't work.)
13. The risk of answering calls while driving and the cost of hands-free devices.
14. The use of electronic devices to trigger weapons of mass (or other) destruction.
15. The use of the internet to get information regarding how to make a bomb.
16. The use of the internet to contact and connect to others with similar ideas regarding what used to be considered anti-social activities.^vi That includes, among many other things, for example anarchy and conspiracy.
17. Search engines that, in addition to the useful information they make available, assist in plagiarism.
18. Social media that cater to the voyeur and trivialize everyone's existence as they waste our time.
19. Pornography and a platform to induce the naïve and trusting to become involved in psychologically unhealthy, or physically dangerous relationships.
20. People all around us who are walking and talking to those we cannot see. Those we used to view as touched are now reaching out and touching others, but they're in far greater numbers than they used to be, and their addiction interrupts conversations, meetings, and the public peace.^vii

Of course I've just begun. I haven't mentioned such problems^viii as cyberbullying,” computer games and their risks (immediate and long-term), GPS's and our inability to just get away without others knowing where we are, and the dangers to the libraries and the newspapers.^ix And I suspect you know many others. If nothing else, the addiction that I mentioned drains time from our attending to other matters. And some of them may even be significant.

When I was young,^x things were slower and simpler. We can accomplish a lot more now, and do it faster. But I sometimes wonder if it's all worth it.

Next episode: “Food For Thought” – Thinking about it won't help.

i      The first such integrated circuit was patented in 1949 but never adopted for use in any device nor developed. According to Wikipedia,

“Early developments of the integrated circuit go back to 1949, when the German engineer Werner Jacobi (de) (Siemens AG) filed a patent for an integrated-circuit-like semiconductor amplifying device showing five transistors on a common substrate in a 3-stage amplifier arrangement. Jacobi disclosed small and cheap hearing aids as typical industrial applications of his patent. An immediate commercial use of his patent has not been reported.”

ii     Possibly permanently. Computers and the cloud are good at keeping such information alive forever.

iii     The particular problems, of course, will differ depending on the nature of the device(s) you have.

iv    The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 146 points and there was a temporary (fortunately) loss of over a hundred billion dollars.

v      While many of them seem to be originating in Nigeria, the sources are numerous and international.

vi     Some of them still are.

vii    I still think they're crazy, but for a different reason.

viii  Among numerous others.

ix    Some favor the sacrifice of print media in favor of that delivered over computerized devices, but I prefer a book or a newspaper. And you don't need to recharge them.

x      You've heard that one too.