I’ve just spent 5 days experiencing a revolution in wireless technology – it probably isn’t that “new”, but it was new to me. I’ve written before about how LTE or WiMax is going to change every aspect of our lives very soon in ways we don’t even think about yet.
When I was in the hospital, I was put on a cardiac monitor that monitored every little pitter patter of my heart 24 hours a day. It is a device about the size of an iphone that is in constant contact with the monitoring center via wireless (which in theory could be anywhere in the world). If a lead came loose, within seconds a page would go out to the nurse telling them to go to the room and fix the problem. Had anything “exciting” shown up on the monitor (it didn’t), the response would have been in seconds to start to deal with an issue with a real time display in front of a doctor with the skills to make informed decisions in real time.
Now broaden that picture out to be that someone with a heart issue could wear this device and go pretty much anywhere in an entire city, and be just as much in touch, including the ability of a doctor to remotely intervene (perhaps adjust a pacemaker or zap with an implanted defibrillator to restart a heart).
This technology has great potential to do wonderful things – but it also could be the technology that enslaves us if used by the wrong people with the wrong motivations.
It’s critical that the government recognize that trust is the key for any solution. Trying to beat people into submission without adequate thought and discussion will result in failure and extreme danger to the future. I’m hoping the adults are beginning to take control of the process and we can stop with the “emergency” crap and have some balanced rationale dialog soon.