Meet the Coopers. An average American family. Meet dad, a widower and a father. The Coopers win a “house of the future” with a cyber housemaid named PAT (“Personal Applied Technology”). But the house goes haywire, and it’s up to the family to defeat the system. In 1999, Smart House was released by Disney. In 2015, our world is getting closer and closer to this technologically advanced experience that Walt Disney portrayed some 16 years ago. Computers are taking a leading role in our lives.
From the Jetsons‘ flying cars and moving walkways, today’s technology has evolved to reflect some of these early animations. These developments, however, have fostered an overarching concern in the minds of many Americans: Big Brother is watching you. First, be careful what you say on your land line. Then, don’t write anything incriminating via email or text. All of these things could possibly be taken be a third party and used against you. Next thing you know, you’re a “person of interest” on a governmental watch list–or so the story goes.
While watching the news this morning, I got a slightly more frightening Big Brother update. Samsung TVs, just like the one I was watching in the privacy of my bedroom, could possibly be collecting my conversations and sending them to a third party. Samsung is warning its customers about discussing personal information in front of the television set. The policy states that the TV will be listening to your every word, waiting for a command.
With media pitching as one of our areas of expertise at Clairemont, I wonder if we will soon live in a world where people begin to abandon the TV in fear. Will technology bring more bad than good in our society, causing us to adopt older methods of communication? Or will I soon be flying into work? Those are just a few tidbits to think about before sitting down in front of the television and airing your dirty laundry.
Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.
