No rest ?

Do you ever turn your computer off?

For a number of years our tutor has noted a minor, very minor, annoyance.  His laptop will update its software, as everyone’s computer does these days, and then display a message like, “Leave your computer on and plugged in and it will restart automatically outside of active hours.”  He found the idea of leaving his machine on all night just so it could restart itself a bit ridiculous.  It’s a laptop, as it has to be portable so he can take it to work and back, so he turns it off for travel; and indeed only has it on for as long as it takes to complete some specific task.  Not all our consultants travel as much as they used to, but all use laptops from long-ingrained habit, and all turn them off when they’re not using them.  But some people, apparently, leave their computers on all the time.

Something that started happening recently highlights a related idea.  One of our log-in accounts spontaneously started requiring two-factor verification, that is, it would send a code to another of our accounts in order to check that we are the right person.  In principle we approve of this sort of security measure, though we’d like to have been asked about it in advance.  But note that it assumes we are already logged-in to the other account.

It struck us that these incidents are a sign that most users of computers these days have quite different habits from our set of consultants.  Their computers are always on and they are perpetually logged in to all their accounts.  Indeed, they probably use password-management software so they needn’t ever log in to anything separately.

And they use their computers for everything they do.  Work, entertainment, socializing, hobbies, even cooking and cleaning (in a Smart House) all happen through the machine.  There is no reason to turn it off to take care of any task.  It goes with them in the form of their smartphone if they leave the house.  There is even sleep-monitoring software, so they might not get away from it in their dreams.

It came as something of a shock to us to realize how different these people’s lives are from ours.  They have a whole different set of habits and attitudes.  We’re only just beginning to think about what it all means.  Our tutor, for instance, concluded that when a student asks him a question and immediately consults a smartphone it’s not calculated rudeness, just habit.  (It’s still impolite.)  A pedestrian blocking the sidewalk while sending a text is not being consciously arrogant, only thoughtless.  (You may come up with your own comments on drivers.)

Not for the first time, we wondered what sort of world we’ve come to inhabit.