The downside of technology

[MadHound]

Today was one of the rare days I went through the drive through at the local fast food chain. One thing that I noticed was the automatic windows. When the cashier or other person gets close to the window, it automatically opens.

Apparently the sensor is quite sensitive, for as I was waiting for my food, the movement inside made the window open four or five times.

Energy burned,
Energy burned,
Energy burned,
Energy burned,

Why not just stick with the old standby, a well functioning window that opens by hand? No energy burned.

As the years have gone by, I've noticed a similar phenomenon elsewhere, from box stores with those curtain heaters that immerse you in warm air just as soon as you enter the front door, to yes, I'll go there, the proliferation of cell phones that burn up resource and energy at a prodigious rate.

The fact of the matter is that our technologies of convenience and comfort are nothing more than energy wasters.

Perhaps, in this time of rising energy prices, dwindling resources and search for energy savings, it is time to reconsider if we really need all these technological "marvels".

[RKP5637]

1. And along with that are the zillions of electronic products released with

planned obsolesce and cheaply made plowing through resources.

[Confusious]

2. Uh, no. I like and need the technological marvels.

What about the things people give up in response? There are fewer home lines. email and texting has replaced fax machines. There are ways to recycle all these things. Every time they put something new in a phone, fewer resources are used. As far as power, those phones are probably one of the most energy efficient things you can find. Probably use around 1 watt a week. please.

I got an iPad this year. I had to buy a grand total of 0 ( zero ) nada, zip, none books for 8 college classes. All of it was online. How much energy did that save? The building of the roads to get the trees, the cutting of the trees, the moving of the trees, the conversion of the trees to paper, the shipping of the paper to the publisher, the printing of the books, the shipping of the books, and finally, the buying of the books.

If you don't look to closely, you can think of it as a waste.