This silicon.com (http://www.silicon.com) story has been sent to you by Mark
Perkins
Message from sender:
Something the profession should definitely be profiled in?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Let's make everyone tech-literate
By silicon.com
We're a nation suffering from technology overload, unable to control the
gadgets we already have and clueless about what the latest ones do.
Amazing though it may seem, video recorders have been a widespread consumer
gadget for 27 years now. And yet still a third of us can't manage to
programme one, according to a survey commissioned by online payments company
PayPal.
As for 'those new-fangled DVD players', they're even more perplexing -
three-quarters of us can't set one to record.
Despite the furious race to add more functions to mobile phones, two-thirds
of us only use four features on our mobile phone: calls, text messages, alarm
clock and camera. And an oblivious two in five don't even know if their mobile
phone has a camera function.
'So what?' you may ask. Surely it doesn't really matter if a few people miss
out on their favourite show because they haven't read their video recorder
manual. Does it really matter if we are a nation of tech-ignoramuses?
Yes, it does. Technology has become part of the fabric of everyday life - and
in coming years will be even more so. It might seem charmingly Luddite to
claim an inability to programme a DVD player but it's not necessarily
something to be proud of.
On top of that, we've got an ageing population - which means more old people
and less young people to look after them. And one way we're going to have to
tackle that is through the use of more technology.
Already the NHS is floating plans for telehealth systems in the home, which
could reduce the pressure on the health service's stretched resources. This
means that older people may well have to grapple with technology if they want
to receive decent home care and stay independent for longer.
This throws out a challenge to business and consumers alike. Business needs
to make sure that gadgets and other forms of tech are as easy to use as
possible. Meanwhile consumers need to break out of their gadget-phobia and
embrace some of the new technology out there - or find themselves left on the
outskirts of society.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © silicon.com 2005
|