Miriam,
I’d add one more level of horrifying to all that you outline…it’s not so much
that the Skypeing doctors, the facilitators sitting in the room with the
hundred kids glued to the computer screens, the so-called educators who think
this is such a great idea, and so on, expect everyone to have access to and be
able to use the technology, they are indifferent to their patient, indifferent
to their students, they really don’t care one way or the other. If they care
about anything, it’s their bottom line, business as usual.
And, yes, that applies to Uber and the other companies trying something
different. I might hope these new ideas bring about some change, but I’m not
naive enough to think they care anymore than do other big corporations and
businesses.
The level of indifference in our society has become so high that when you do
run into someone who really seems to give a rat’s ass about you, their job, the
possibility of helping somebody out, it practically makes you cry.
I will, however, add that eventually, all this new technology will be as
commonplace as that pay phone that used to be on every corner. When cars,
phones, TV, first appeared, hardly anyone had one. Now it seems that everyone
must have a car, a phone, a TV, a radio, everyone will eventually have to have
a computer and a smart phone. The kids, the millennials, they talk about
computers and apps the way we used to talk about our three-ring binders and
pencils.
And, once again, the poor, the working class, the marginalized, the forgotten,
will be left out in the cold. Look at that discussion that has dragged on and
on on the BARD list about mailing cartridges to blind patrons of the library
who can’t or don’t want to download books. It’s really been horrifying to read
how many people on that list have absolutely no understanding for people who
still want their books sent to them on the cartridges. Again, the indifference.
They are basically saying, I have what I want, and I don’t care if you get what
you need or not. And worse, although it doesn’t hurt them one little bit, they
want to take that option away from those who prefer it or need it.
Alice
On Jul 18, 2015, at 3:58 PM, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Marsha,
What has happened is that now, in order to participate in most aspects of
our society, people need computers with internet access and smart phones.
Although, originally, the technology for all of this came out of government
research, actually military research, it is now the province of private
enterprise. As our society sheds various aspects of our social welfare state
and the belief that it is the government's responsibility to ensure that
everyone's needs are taken into account, an assumption is made that everyone
can, or ought to be able to, own and use all of the new available technical
devices. Pay phones are a thing of the past. If you're away from home and
have to make a call, you can't just drop a quarter into a slot and make the
call. You must own a cell phone and pay a monthly fee. In Manhattan, one can
still stand on a street corner and hail a cab. But perhaps, some day, that
won't be a possibility. You will only be able to summon a ride through a
smart phone app. There's a lot of enthusiastic talk these days of docdtors
using apps to check patients' chronic conditions and skype consultations and
examinations. This is a whole new level of impersonality and a way to lower
the expense and time of service providers while placing more financial
responsibility on the consumer or patient and it assumes a level of
independence, competence, and health that is not available to all members of
our society. It is the same new business model which says that you can put
100 children in front of computer screens and provide education through
computer programs and a facilitator. It is precisely the oppisit of the
kind of world that Chris Hedges would like to see and that the Occupy
movement was working for.
Miriame
________________________________
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Martian.Lady
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2015 2:56 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uber fined in cal partially for violating ada
HI
The ability to use this service depends on having a smart phone. This
means many people can't use the service.
Marsha
