The Pixelization of Quality
2006-06-13

That computers have skyrocketed productivity and unlocked the unopenable for humanity is an undeniable fact.

Computers have saved lives, created prosperity and vanquished boredom.

But as people older and wiser than me are fond of saying, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

So the question becomes, "What has been the cost?"

Well, as anyone who grew up before the computer age can attest, the tax we're paying in this new digital age is being paid in the form of frustration.

When I grew up in the seventies and eighties, dropping a connection during a phone call was such an anomaly it was something I had scarcely heard about, let alone experienced. Now it's commonplace.

The analogue technology that brought me the Stanley Cup playoffs during the great dynasties from the Habs to the Oilers remained faithful through all but hurricane force winds. These days, nearly every game has a moment or two when the picture skips and sputters for a few seconds.

And computers? Well, don't get you started. Everyone's experienced "computers" on some level or other. For most of us it's been the catastrophic level at least once, if not regularly.

Admittedly, most of these frustrations are small, even fleeting in nature.

But that doesn't mean they do not exist. And in an age that surrounds us with computer driven technology, we are also surrounded by these small, fleeting frustrations.

So isn't productivity, prosperity and longevity worth a little frustration? It would be silly to say no.

But it would be equally silly not to see that with every cool new toy designed to improve our quality of life will come a further dash of small, fleeting frustration, pixelizing the once rounded edges of a once simpler life.