Technology and Comfort

3 Dec 07 

You know, the older I get the more I like (and enjoy) my comfort. 

I’ve thought about this a lot lately.  Maybe, as you get older and your body slows down, you are less inclined to partake in activities that bring discomfort.   For example, poor weather and travel disruptions seem far less tolerable than they once were. I can remember, as a young soldier, spending weeks in subzero weather.  No shower for a month, few hot meals, long rainy nights where two hours of sleep was the norm – all seemed tolerable. Indeed, “comfort” in those situations, was defined as a warm cup of coffee, a few minutes inside a heated tent and a roll of fresh toilette paper.  And 5 hours of sleep was heaven!  Now, I complain profusely if I have to scrape ice off of my car’s windshield in the morning.  Hmmm….. I guess it’s all relative. 

Which brings me to my question of the week:

Has Information Technology brought more comfort into your life?

Having taught 20^th Century European History at the United States Air Force Academy, I am, of course, fully aware that technology in the broadest sense has dramatically improved the quality of life for everyone on this planet.  From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age, we have enjoyed an increasingly myriad of great conveniences that have improved our work processes and have thus saved us more and more time.  Certainly, consumer goods that provide us luxuries have indeed made life easier and more pleasant.

And, as a technologist, I really do believe that IT makes things easier and more pleasant.  Digital luxuries surround us.  In fact, there are so many digital goods and services now that current trends are focused on streamlining communications and consolidating all of the gadgets that we have purchased and embraced into a single device.

But do I truly find “comfort” in IT stuff?

That is an interesting question.  If “time-saving and ease” or “pleasant” equals comfort, then I guess so.

But what is comfort?  WordNet at Princeton offers the following definitions:

• a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain; "he is a man who enjoys his comfort"; "she longed for the comfortableness of her armchair"
• a feeling of freedom from worry or disappointment
• consolation: the act of consoling; giving relief in affliction; "his presence was a consolation to her" ;give moral or emotional strength to
• ease: a freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state; "a life of luxury and ease"; "he had all the material comforts of this world"

Interesting that the above 4 definitions fail to directly conjure up easy correlations of IT with “comfort.”  Lets look at these more closely….

• a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain; "he is a man who enjoys his comfort"; "she longed for the comfortableness of her armchair"

While I take great comfort in grabbing that first cup of coffee and plopping myself down in front of my PC on an early Saturday morning, I quickly lose any feeling of comfort.  I shy away from looking at my work email or I avoid bringing up my calendar (trying not to worry about future meetings).  Do I have the latest virus protection?  Are all of my mp3 songs legal?  Forget it, time to watch some football.

• a feeling of freedom from worry or disappointment

ibid

• consolation: the act of consoling; giving relief in affliction; "his presence was a consolation to her"; give moral or emotional strength to

I once sent someone one of those online get well cards.  I think they got it.  I think.

• ease: a freedom from financial difficulty that promotes a comfortable state; "a life of luxury and ease"; "he had all the material comforts of this world"

I think this may be one.  Quicken has brought us freedom from financial difficulty.  Indeed, we only spent three hours last week balancing our finances.  Once we got through to the bank’s customer service to reset our passwords, we were able to go online to balance the books and pay bills.  Although the utility that automatically calculates the current tally of our mutual funds was inaccurate, I only had to go through three Google searches to fix the numbers.  The digital reports from Quicken looked really cool – once I ran to the store to replace the color toner cartridge.  Looks great!  We now have - in living color - our entire financial picture. And to think that in the past, we would have to hassle with the Mastercard statement, checkbook ledger and mutual fund statement.     

But I think inventors and innovators are trying hard to make IT a true comfort provider.  Take for example, the e-Book (electronic book).  In fact, the cover story in Newsweek Magazine last week was about Amazon’s new e-Book Reader – called the Kindle – that is making its debut this Christmas season. Wow!  Looks pretty cool.  A big improvement over previous attempts.  I have been waiting for something like this.  Indeed, I read the entire Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars books on my HP iPAQ Pocket PC last year.  But, to be honest, while it got me through some really boring meetings, I did not form a bond with it.  It wasn’t comforting.  I tried to snuggle up with it but there was nothing there.  Nothing.

Even if the Kindle is a big improvement, I can’t imagine how it will be much different from my iPAQ.  So, in the meantime, I’ll search on line for the latest reviews of a book I want to read and then order it through Amazon.  But once it arrives, I am lighting the fireplace, pouring a glass of my favorite Cabernet, grabbing that blanket I love and snuggling up with that familiar clothbound friend that I have known since childhood.  That might not be technologically sexy… but it is pure comfort.