The iPhone of Things

Yesterday, Apple announced it’s newest iPhones, and the features that these new iPhones are equipped with.  Being an avid iPhone user since late 2007, I started doing some research.  The new iPhones have tons of cool new features, one even comes in  vibrant colors!

Beyond the external and appearance of the hardware, there are many new features and softwares.  One of these new softwares is built-in censors.  These built-in censors are always on, constantly collecting, “observing”, and “remembering” information about the user.  This kind of advanced technology is truly amazing.. on the surface.

But let’s really examine what that means.

I have grown up in a world of technology.  Computers, phones, and electronics have always been around me as part of my upbringing.  For many people in my generation, we don’t really think about what that means as far as privacy.  Well, in terms of privacy, we have none.  All of our personal information, our likes and dislikes, our hobbies, and our daily activities are stored on the internet.  Technologies then take this information and filter ads and promos that we see through this information.

On the one hand, it seems pretty great.  Every ad that I see or hear is generally about something that would, or does, interest me.  On the other hand, the internet “knows” enough about me to be able to “understand” what it is that I would be interested in seeing, listening to, or buying.  That’s kind of a frightening concept when you really think about it.

In this article, these features are examined.  The censors and constant surveillance of the things users are doing, watching, listening to, even saying, is brought to another level, one that we as users can’t escape… and frankly, most of us don’t want to.  Most of us have smart phones, mainly iPhones, and will succumb to this new technology and buy the newest and coolest gadget- the iPhone 5s/c.

The author of this article leaves us with an interesting thought.  Siraj Datoo writes, “you might as well get used to the idea that your phone is passively collecting more information on you than ever.”

But, is this something that we, especially my generation, are already used to?

Something to think about….