When Technology Fails
As a virtual bar association operating in cyberspace, we spend a lot of time and energy thinking about things like digital identity, trust, and avoidance of cybercrime. These are important issues when we are thinking about how intrusive the Internet can be, and how annoying all those unsolicited and unwanted intrustions on our life can be, particularly when we have no way of verifying the identity of the intruders.
However, when your computer crashes and must be rebuilt, as mine just was, you begin to understand how blind and unconnected you are without the Internet and its related technologies.
I spent 15 days “unconnected,” and I’m just beginning to recover. Part of the time I was travelling, so the rebuild didn’t start until 10 days after my crash. It didn’t matter as much when I was out of town because I was out of town. But, when I got back on the weekend and had to wait until Monday to take my computer to experts who could “heal” it, and then it took until Friday to get it working, I was frantic, depressed and lonely.
How would I ever catch up on my work? Did I lose out on an ebay auction? (Yes.) If my bid had been successful, would I get a reputation as a slow payer because I didn’t know I’d won the item for 4 days (not a problem in this case since I was outbid). Would I be late on paying any of my regular bills? And so on.
I came to understand deeply something I knew before: I am completely dependent on technology for my livelihood and for contact with the outside world, but I’m not competent to fix things beyond the most basic of problems. Knowing that I am not alone in this place is small consolation when it is my computer that has failed me.
Ah, I guess I know for certain that I’m living life on the edge!
Susan Waters, EDM, CAE
Executive Director