“I don’t look at technology through a prism of fear, but rather with curiosity,” Rebecca says in her column this week.
I am not afraid of technology. I am afraid of robots with the speed of cheetahs, but in general, tech does not scare me.
Some moms bake incredible cookies, I know what it means to clear the cookies from your cache. Both are valuable skill sets!
Since I don’t look at technology through a prism of fear, but rather with curiosity, news of technological advancements, other than robots that have the agility of a gymnast, usually has me intrigued.
Like this report that Amazon is looking into a system where you’d pay for things, with a scan of your palm. Amazon hasn’t confirmed this, but tech experts say your credit card or payment method would be keyed to a scan of your palm. At checkout, you lift your palm, it’s scanned, and boom, you’re out of there. This is considered an improvement over fingerprint scanning since with those, you have to touch the keypad physically. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, this tech could be available at all types of stores, not just Amazon.
My wallet, shockingly, is a jumble of receipts, punch cards for dog washing, my driver’s license, multiple, shoppers’ cards, my debit card, a $20 bill or two, and a random stale, escaped Altoid. Any opportunity to avoid diving into that reflection of my own disorganization is welcome.
Honestly, any tech that gets us through the chip card reader era is fine by me. The chip on your credit and debit card is there for added security, I get it. But I always forget I have it, I never time its insertion correctly, nor do I ever pull it from the reader in a way that satisfies the angry chip-reading gnome inside the machine.
Scan my palm? Yeah, all in, high five, let’s buy some stuff.
The Consumer Electronics Show just wrapped up. This is where companies unveil new tech to the public for the first time. And while I’m not afraid of tech, as stated, except for drones with thermal cameras, so they sense HEAT even if you’re HIDING, some things at the show do give me pause.
I do not have Alexa or Siri or Google Home. Something about it feels creepy, and yet, those technologies are just the beginning. At CES they unveiled a refrigerator with facial recognition. I mean, it will look you in the eye when you dive in at midnight to grab a snack, and what, judge you for it? Step off, I NEED that ice cream right now. Further, could it lock the fridge when it judged I SHOULD be done? Hit me with a laser blast?
They also displayed several smart mirrors that record blemishes, wrinkles, ennui and who knows what. The idea is that beauty companies could more easily market products to disguise your ugly mug. Mirror, mirror, on the WiFi? The pitfalls of smart mirrors seem well established, see Snow White for details.
Scratch that. I’m afraid of tech. I’m completely afraid of tech. Run. I tell you! RUN!
Rebecca Regnier is an author and former television journalist. Visit her online at www.rebeccaregnier.com.
