Blessing or burden?

Before I could even begin writing this, I had technology step in my way so many times that I gave up before I started and decided to sleep on it. Facebook beckoned from my cellphone many times and Twitter updates called out to me, not forgetting the e-mail pop-ups on my computer that helped me procrastinate during my procrastination.

Take two wasn't a flawless attempt either. It took four games of Freecell before I could even open up a Word document. And a “quick” peek at Facebook to see what people had spoken about and said to me while I was asleep.

It's difficult to ignore this paradox that is modern technology. The very innovations that are supposed to help make us more efficient and make it easier for us to work can end up doing that while still doing the exact opposite. We may actually have less free time because it takes longer to get through input from multiple tech channels, or because we spend all our free time on the technology.

Take computers. They're supposed to give us the opportunity to work faster than a typewriter or pen and paper would allow, but at times it could be the cause of making us work slower than we ever would. Addictive games that you don't even like that much are saved away in that folder you know you shouldn't go to, but always do “just for five minutes”.

A computer with Internet access could just be the most counter-productive tool of all time. The Internet, which should make work easier by providing research at your fingertips and allowing communication to be comprehensive yet efficient, is hardly ever used just for that purpose, I would imagine.

Things like e-mail pop-up notifications are supposed to help you along by allowing you to see what mail you're receiving without ever having to leave the document you're working on, but can actually distract you more. That two-second pop-up - every few seconds - constantly takes your attention away from work and breaks your train of thought. It could take a good few minutes to find where you were again and where you were going with your work before your attention was snatched away by the devious little box, giving you a chance to leave your work for some particularly “pertinent” message.

Another pop-up that is the devil of work is the instant messaging or chat pop-up. That little ding and flashing tab title to tell you that someone has said something to you is the ultimate distraction, because we can't be rude and ignore people, right? We have to at least greet them and say we're busy and we can chat a bit later after finding out a little about what they want to talk about.

Let's not even discuss surfing.

The other problem with certain technological advances is that in making us so independent from everything else and so mobile it has left us completely dependent and utterly stumped when we don't have it. We simply can't function.

Take the cellphone away from us or let us forget it at home, while popping out to buy a loaf of bread, and we turn into blubbering, disoriented fools.

A computer with Internet access could just be the most counter-productive tool of all time.

Farzana Rasool, journalist, ITWeb

Paranoid thoughts start racing through our minds when we're made aware of our terrible stupidity in leaving behind the golden possession. “What if something happens to me? How will I tell someone?” or “What if someone from home wants something while I'm out?” or “I feel so alone and out of touch. What if something important/bad happens and the news can't get to me?”

The same goes for our computers at work. When it breaks down or crashes we become utterly helpless. There is no way for us to do any work now. All we can do is wait for the machine to be fixed and then we can start our combination of work and procrastination again. How did we ever do it before we had computers? Um, I'll leave that to you to answer.

The latest gadget to become our master is the GPS navigation device. Never before have we distrusted our judgement and doubted our instincts as much as when the “Janes” of our cars tell us to go in one direction and we know the other may be shorter. “Let me just listen to her. I'll probably get myself lost” is the usual thought in this situation.

Should the device ever break or should we not have it for some reason we flounder around like moles in the sunlight. We lose all ability to follow signboards, recall routes or simply ask for directions.

Here again comes the chance for inefficiency. The device is supposed to get you wherever you want faster and with less trouble, but can actually make you later than you would have been had you got directions beforehand, if it didn't account for traffic, a closed road or just didn't work.

When these flaws of technology arise, we encounter more stress than we would have had we just not used it in the first place.

Like with the GPS, if it fails you mid-travel you are now lost on a route that is different to the one you were at least slightly familiar with. Other than the anxiety that comes with being lost, you now have the added pressure of being late.

One study identifies “Computer Stress Syndrome” as the effect of malfunctioning technology on people. Crashing machines when you have that vital assignment to hand in, slow boot times when you need to do something in the next five minutes and having to deal with upgrades, new systems and viruses all cause this syndrome.

Perhaps Fifa was on to something when it refused to implement goal-line and video technology to help referees make better decisions.

Turning to technology for all major decisions would inevitably slow down the game. But, it would also help Frank Lampard not have his accomplishments at the net denied.

This situation defines the problem of the technology paradox. We need it, but sometimes too much and it tends to affect our time of play.

Like with anything our use of technology needs to be moderated...but I'll get to that just as soon as I've replied to my sister on Gtalk and had a look at that email that just came through...what was I saying?