Legal News

Resistance is Futile

By rflores

Fast evolving computer technology has been a defining feature of our lives. Right now you could be conducting legal research on our website, listening to one of thousands of songs on iTunes, while emailing a client on your phone. In a Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) talk hosted late last year Amber Case proposed that ?technology is evolving us as we become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of Homo sapiens.? The extended use of technology along with our increasing reliance on these devices, are essentially turning us into cyborgs.

In what is probably one of the greatest examples one could find for going into academia, being able to find and create your own niche in the discipline of your choice, Amber Case discusses what it is to be a cyborg anthropologist. Her studies are described as ?the symbiotic interactions between humans and machines in which she considers how our values and culture are being shaped by living lives increasingly mediated by high technology.? Fieldwork involves ?observing how people participate in digital networks, analyzing the various ways we project our personalities, communicate, work, play, share ideas and even form values? through the digital realm.

Working her way from the traditional definition of our understanding of what a is cyborg, she makes a terrific case of just how much of an impact our technology has on our daily lives whether it is the trauma of losing a cell phone or hard drive to the way social networking platforms has changed the way we communicate.  The incredible influence that these devices exert creates an interesting new opportunity for studying human culture and behavior. At the end of her talk she really speaks to the ?oneness? people feel towards their devices: ?The most successful technology gets out of the way and helps us live our lives. And really, it ends up being more human than technology.?

At Fastcase, we are proud of our ability to contribute meaningfully to the cyborganization of the human race. With Apple?s iPad 2 launching today and having just tripled our potential Fastcase iPhone app user base, we gleefully expect a dramatic rise in hunched over Homo sapiens tapping away at the little screen in front of them. Click the link below to watch the video of her talk:

Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now

Full post as published by Fastcase Legal News on March 11, 2011 (boomark / email).