Thoughts on the use and cost of technology.

Most of us have some technology. Perhaps it's a smart phone and nothing else. Perhaps it's a smartphone, Windows PC, iPad, Mac, smart TV, smart appliances, and more. Then there are people who have no smart devices and may choose to have no Internet and live off the grid.


My guess is that most of us are somewhere between these extremes, and also that, from time-to-time, our technology needs and use change, either because our job changes, or because we make a personal decision to reduce the number of tech devices we use and lessen our dependence on technology.


I love technology, and am so grateful for what it brings to my life in terms of digital books and easier ways to communicate with people all over the world. As a person who is DeafBlind, technology has made my life so much easier and enabled me to have access to digital books and electronic books in Braille. This may not seem like such a huge advance to print readers, but growing up, my access to hardcopy Braille books was limited to what was available through my state's Talking Book and Braille library. Even some of my textbooks were not available in Braille and were read on tape. This was the case until the 1980s when the first standalone reading machines became available. They were big and bulky, but they allowed me to read some of my law-school textbooks and law library materials, not in Braille, but I could listen to them. In those days, I was totally blind, not DeafBlind, so that was doable. Then computers and scanning software came along, and the joy of scanning books into my computer, via a flatbed scanner, I thought, was absolutely the best life could get. Then came electronic refreshable Braille displays that could be connected to a computer, and later to smartphones and iPads and Macs to read the screen. My stars, what a life change that was in both a work setting, as well as at home.


Today, I'm typing this on a bluetooth keyboard, the Logitech K380, while my iPhone is next to me. I don't need a laptop or even a Braille display to do this, and when I'm ready to post this entry to the blog, I will just upload it and, voila, you'll have it on your screen to read. It has been thirty-seven years since I first used a computer, and it still seems magical to me to be able to write and read using a tiny iPhone SE 2020. I don't believe this is something i will ever take for granted. Also, within reach, is my Orbit Reader 20 Plus, an electronic refreshable Braille display, about the size of a paperback book. Stored on the SD card of that display are approximately 4, 000 books that are in my digital library, which I continually add to.


Of course, like most anything in life, technology has a downside, and the Internet can be used for good or ill. Obviously with advances in artificial intelligence, regulation will be a key concern, but access to information at my fingertips, literally, is a marvelous thing, and I feel totally blessed to be alive in these times.

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