February 24, 2007
MAN OVER MACHINE: LEXIPHANE.COM RETURNS
Sometime between 7th Grade and 8th Grade, Shop Class became Technology. In 7th Grade, I took Wood Shop and made a pen holder that was essentially a sanded block of wood with a piece of acrylic glued to it and a pen receptacle screwed on to the top. 8th Grade was supposed to be Metal Shop, but instead it was replaced with Technology. Our teacher that year had been teaching metal shop for approximately 30 years and seemed alternately bemused and resentful that after three decades of successfully keeping kids from maiming themselves with power tools and soldering guns, he was now supposed to teach a new curriculum: Technology.
"What is Technology?"
That is what he would ask over and over again, sitting at his desk and gesturing to the word on the chalkboard behind him without looking at it. Then he would lean back in his creaky chair and click-clack his dentures with half-closed eyes. At first, the class assumed that he was looking for some type of definitive answer. After about two weeks of the question repeated with vague assertions punctuated by long contemplative silences, we realized it was more of a rhetorical question: one posed to stimulate a Socratic exploration of the concept of tools and knowledge from the dawn of man and through the ages. Either that, or our teacher was simply marking time in 40 minute increments until he could retire at the end of the year without cracking his Technology class guidebook. I don't think we wound up making anything in Metal Shop--sorry, Technology class--that year.
That was about 20 years ago, but my old teacher's question came to mind recently, over and over again, as I wrestled with a crashed site, database corruption, platform upgrades, and a configuration labrynth that I was beginning to suspect had no actual exit. I now know what technology is though. Technology is a huge pain in my ass. I'm sure my somnolent metal shop teacher would agree.
Nonetheless it is here with us to stay. And this morning I made it my bitch. Sorry for the weeks offline. I hope regular readers will return to the site and continue to enjoy frequent updates to Lexiphane.com. I'd like to extend special thanks to my brother Tom for offering guidance and practical assistance throughout my tech travails.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at February 24, 2007 12:55 PM
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