Now I have a piece of equipment that its sole purpose is to
make copies asking me a series of
three questions each time I want a copy. Scan? Size? Copy?
What was wrong with a key pad and a start button? I want two
copies. I hit 2 and start.
But, alas, someone at the copy manufacturer was sitting
around bored wondering what new bells and whistles they could add to the copier
to make it more “useful.”
The answer: none.
Technology is really getting out of hand. The better example
than me getting irked at a copier is photo enforcement. Ticket cameras. Red
light cameras. Speed cameras. And now they have “following too close” radars
that snap a photo.
As computers grew in popularity ages ago, there was a common
phrase that everyone knew. “Garbage in. Garbage out.” It’s a simple concept,
really. If you put garbage programming into a device, you will get garbage out
of it. Since people program computers and devices those electronics are no more
perfect than the human beings who created them.
That understanding has gotten lost along the way. Now we
live in a day and age of believing that if the computer says it, it must be
true.
Not so.
I’m not anti-technology. I like my gadgets. But, not to the
point I quit thinking for myself.
Take the case in Baltimore
where an attorney got a photo enforcement ticket for speeding. The ticket
claimed he was going 38 in a 25 mph zone. Problem is – the photo showed his car
stopped. The 10-second video “alibi” clip that will be used in court shows the
car – stopped. Brakes applied, stopped.
The problem is so rampant in Maryland, that one lawmaker
wants to fine cities and the manufacturers of these cameras that erroneously
snap photos of law abiding citizens and issue them a ticket.
The “following too close” radar is one for the scrap heap,
too. How many times a day in urban traffic are trucks cut off by four-wheelers?
Can you imagine you get cut off in traffic, the cop shoots the radar at you and
voila! You’re following too close.
I know law enforcement agencies are suffering from lack of
funding and looking for other ways to do routine enforcement. States, cities
and counties will try and convince you that technology is the answer. No
manpower required to make the street safer.
Bull. Remember garbage in, garbage out.
The machines are not perfect. Nor do officials seem to care
if they are. The tickets issued by these devices are generally cheaper than the
equivalent ticket issued by a live officer. Cheap enough that a lot of people
would pay the $40, accept the violation that is not turned over to insurance in
a lot of cases, and save the trip to court.
Don’t even get me started with electronic on-board recorders
… my blood is already boiling.
It’s time to dial back the technology and start thinking for
ourselves again.
