Technology is a wonderful thing. It has given us many good things, including the pacemaker, the radio, TV, prosthetic limbs and eyes that help the lame and the blind, instant communications by way of the Internet and mobile phones. Proponents of technology point to all this as evidence that technology gives us freedom. But technology has also made it easier to limit our freedom in ways few realize. For example, Apple was recently awarded a patent for technology that could identify users of iPod touches, iPads or iPhones by their heartbeats, voiceprints and mug shots.
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Life in Technology's Invisible Panopticon
Posted by: Richard Adhikari August 27, 2010 05:00 AMTechnology is a wonderful thing. It has given us many good things, including the pacemaker, the radio, TV, prosthetic limbs and eyes that help the lame and the blind, instant communications by way of the Internet and mobile phones. Proponents of technology point to all this as evidence that technology gives us freedom. But technology has also made it easier to limit our freedom in ways few realize. For example, Apple was recently awarded a patent for technology that could identify users of iPod touches, iPads or iPhones by their heartbeats, voiceprints and mug shots.