In which we decide the drawbacks of the wheel far outweigh the benefits

OPTION 1 – Resolved: On balance, smartphones have improved the quality of life for users.
OPTION 2 – Resolved: On balance, the benefits of the Internet of Things outweigh the harms of decreased personal privacy.

Here we go again. Those are the two options for November PF. Actually, there's no real choice whatsoever, but I'm trusting that you know that already.

I happen to be a big fan of "This Week in Tech," a podcast I've been following now for almost a decade. As the internet of things has become more of a reality, creeping slowly into our homes, perhaps the biggest question asked over and over again by the panelists on this show, a solid and ever-changing group of the best minds on all aspects on tech in the country, is how much privacy we are willing to give up for comfort. The Amazon Echo in my kitchen is always on. Always. Always listening to me. The more devices I hook up to my personal little network, the easier it is for some hacker to control everything in my house. I could, if I were so inclined, purchase the materiel to open the front door of my house from my telephone, thus enabling a hacker to do likewise. Am I worried about these theoretical hackers? Well, yes and no. I have a Yahoo account, so presumably I'm one of the 500,000,000 accounts that were hacked. That's meaningless, statistically. But if someone were looking for me, for any reason, how hard would it be for them to find me? Every time I take on a new benefit of the tech age, I take on a new risk. Am I willing to do that? Are the benefits worth it? Hmmm. Sounds like an interesting debate. And that doesn't even begin to address the question of where the dad gum gov'ment comes into it. 

Curiously, the real story of personal tech is tied to the same individual, at least tangentially. Steve Jobs was in at the creation of both the personal computer, and the smartphone. Arguably Apple invented neither, but that is beside the point. The story of personal tech that people are just beginning to realize is that it wasn't the creation of the PC that mattered in and of itself, but that the creation of the PC was a step along the way to where we are today with smartphones, when we have unimaginable computational and communication capabilities in all of our pockets. Yes, the PC changed some of our lives, but as it evolved into the smartphone, it eventually changed all of our lives, around the world. The smartphone is ubiquitous. Revolutions run on Twitter. I can poke virtually anyone on the planet in a matter of seconds. I have access to vast amounts of information immediately, from a device in my pocket. I can find my coordinates now and map my route anywhere. I can entertain myself, educate myself, communicate without restriction to keep in touch with everyone from my immediate family to my colleagues to Donald Trump. Aside from that last one (and I know you're now mulling over the Trump disad), the computer in your pocket is, unquestionably, the most universally beneficial tool created in your lifetime. And we should debate whether that's true? Seriously now? With the exception of luddites, to whom the content of the argument wouldn't matter (it could be the steam engine), and specious arguers who would posit the idea that the smartphone enables certain habits of social ineptness and that somehow having your nose in your phone too much and not going all Auntie Mame at the banquet of life is somehow the equivalent of the undeniable benefits, there is no ground at all for that side of the debate.

My guess is that the framers think that the phrase "quality of life" somehow elevates the niggling problems of the smartphone to debate-level negatives. It doesn't, but that will be all people have to go on if option 1 becomes the law of the land. 

So, again, it looks to me like a no-brainer. The last no-brainer went down in flames; maybe this one will too, the Good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise. Otherwise, PFers who flip neg on the topic can simply pack up their bags and go home. Or be prepared to slice and dice more bushwa than is healthy in a room full of adolescents and parent judges. 

The bind moggles. 


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