How many times do I have to be taught that technology, while useful, even delightful at times, is not to be depended on? I wonder if electronic equipment works better in Switzerland, where trains and trams are so dependable that a three-minute deviation from schedule is a notable occurrence?
Once again, I picked up my PDA to find it had lost everything. This is the third time that has happened in about a year an a half, and I think it's related to alarms going off repeatedly when I'm not aware of them. I'd love to shut off the alarms on the handheld device, but I can't do that without removing them from the desktop, which is where I really need them. But this time surprised me, because last I knew there was still plenty of life in the batteries.
Oh, well—I had a backup and only lost a couple of pieces of data. It would be helpful if I knew which data I'd lost, but I'll manage. At least this time I was home and could restore the data quickly—the first time I was on vacation and could do nothing till my return. That's when I learned to keep key information on paper when I travel!
Our nifty electronic devices are still too useful for me to give them up altogether, but it's good to be reminded now and then of the importance of backups and of Plans B. Of more concern is our similar dependence on fallible sources of heat, light, water, food, transportation, and other basic necessities, but that's another issue and much harder to resolve.Permalink
Category Computing Everyday Life
