Monday 10 March 2014

THE TOLL OF TECHNOLOGY

I recently had a number of problems with my hand and wrist which I thought were probably caused by a combination of playing tennis for a hundred years and sitting all day at a computer.   My doctor kind of agreed but also said that the biggest culprit was the Blackberry (that I had at that time) and that he is seeing a whole lot of weird and wonderful health problems, particularly in children, caused by new technology.  The result of which, he said, was that soon children would have thumbs the same size as their fingers.

After my diagnosis I started physio on my hand and was given a lot of exercises to do, particularly when sitting at the computer, to ensure that I didn’t round my shoulders and arch my wrists – according to the physiotherapist, more and more people are getting early curvature of the spine due to the modern work environment…. One could almost say that it is only a matter of time before we will be walking on all fours, using our hands with their very long thumbs as our front paws (or whatever gorillas have at the end of their arms….!).

On the other hand, I heard last week that it is now possible not only to buy desks that have adjustable work surfaces so that you can sit or stand whilst working, but also that some of these desks are built around a treadmill… so one can sit/stand/run at one’s desk all day long.   I kind of like that idea (saves on gym fees) but I can’t help conjuring up a picture of a hamster on a wheel…

I dine out on stories of the early days in Czechoslovakia when some of us crazier expats first turned up, and when we had to run our offices with telephones that rarely worked (if they existed at all), smuggled- in fax machines and manual typewriters; emails, internet and social media weren’t even twinkles in their creators eyes.    Sometimes we felt as if we were working in the wild west… But we managed.  With everything that is going on now, I can’t help feeling that they were better days, when communicating meant speaking to each other, building a social network meant working on our relationships, and getting in touch was done by telephone or, God forbid, writing a letter!

Back to the treadmill…


Jo