ETEC 522 – May 2012

After viewing Pattie Maes’ TED presenta…

After viewing Pattie Maes’ TED presentation it really is easy to be drawn into the interesting new ideas that she and her student have created.  However, taking an EVA approach from the angle of a school principal, her idea really doesn’t seem to uncomplicate things, which I believe is the original goal of her invention.  Wearing little rubber thimbles on your fingers all day could also prove to be taxing.  One of my main concerns with her device has to do with safety.  It can’t possibly be healthy to wear a wireless instrument around your neck that rests near your heart with all of the constant wireless waves at work.  It’s almost the Marie Curie syndrome.  Let’s invent something (like Radium) and wear it around our necks all day and carry it around in our pockets when we have no idea of the long term health risks.  In addition to safety concerns, I would question whether devices like this would create total dependency on technology in order to perform simple, daily tasks such as shopping or reading the time.