December 03, 2007, 3:14 PM — It is all too easy to forget that humans are...well...human. We have five senses
and we like to use them. No, let me re-phrase that. We have at least five senses
but only five are currently considered proven to exist. The problem with counting
our senses is that we use our senses to satisfy ourselves that these five things
we call our senses actually exist. Hmmm. Interesting line of thought. Let's
park it.
As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself, we have five senses
and we like to use them. All the 1s and 0s in our digitized lives are ultimately
translated into some combination of sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing.
Of those, sight, touch and hearing are currently well-covered, digitally speaking.
PCs, MP3 players, vibrating game consoles...
I cannot recall yet smelling or tasting a translated digital artifact but it
is only a matter of time I'm sure. My confidence in this comes from the belief
that our technology is changing much faster than our bodies are changing. For
the foreseeable future, I suspect we will need the comfort of interacting with
purely abstract 1s and 0s in concrete, physical ways.
Take music for example. Obviously, it is experienced using one of our senses.
The sense of hearing primarily but also the sense of touch - especially when
you crank up the base. For decades the primary possession mechanism was also
sense-based. we lovingly clasped our LPs to our breasts. Unlike radio broadcasts,
LPs were physical and therefore possessions. You walked into a music store and
emerged heavier than when you entered. You left dollars on the counter in return
for slabs of vinyl.
These days we pick up vast quantities of 1s and 0s. We still hand over the
dollars but we don't get anything back in return. At least nothing that we can
easily relate to with our senses. No lovely vinyl. No smooth and visually appealing
packaging. Just sense-impervious electromagnetism.
We rail against this bypassing of our senses. On a recent whirlwind tour of
some time zones, some examples struck me.
- In one hotel, WIFI access was mediated through scratch cards, available in denominations of 20 minutes, 1 hour and 24 hours. The same service was also available via SMS-based billing to your cellphone. The human in me reached for the scratch card solution because of a feeling that - somehow - I was getting something in return.
- In one coffee shop, music was available for download. To "buy"
the music, you buy a card which gives you the necessary information that allows you to download the music.
- In one gadget shop, software applications that I know ship sans manual (you print the PDF from the CD-ROM) still ship in big colorful boxes that consist primarily of cardboard and empty space.
In recent times, I have become accustomed to buying WIFI services here in Dublin
using SMS-based billing. I have my cellphone set to buzz in my pocket when text
messages arrive. Maybe I am crazy, but I do believe that the buzzing sensation
in my pocket is starting to equate to "value exchange" in my head.
When I buy WIFI time, I get a buzz in my pocket and feel somehow...better for
it.
Uh oh.
