Amazon will deliver parcels right into your home.
Friday, December 22 ~ EDITORIAL ~ by Mary P Brooke: Reality check in the digital age… how far will you go?
Apparently you can order something online from Amazon and have it shipped to your door, and right inside your house if you want. If you want?
It made national news this week that someone hacked the delivery-into-your-home system. Really, you’re kidding — people didn’t think that digital thugs weren’t licking their chops to get their hands on this one? Once a delivery was digitally confirmed, stuff would be promptly stolen off the parcel recipient’s front step or even from inside their home by blocking the cameras.
Shakin’ my head here. How far will people trust the new technology? There is virtually no privacy left for anyone anymore. Much of the younger generation doesn’t even really understand what privacy means, they’ve never known it: cameras in most public places for safety and security, multi-layered digital ID cards, and voluntary release of scads of personal details onto Facebook and other social media. So it’s easy to see how parcels inside the door ‘to alleviate your worry about theft’ could naturally arrive in the ‘ok zone’.
At Christmas we reach for the stars in our minds and for the beauty in our hearts. And so it should be. But it’s always been common sense, planning for the inevitable, and tough critical thinking that has saved people in the end.
By all means dream big, you must. Make real the visions of your mind and desires of your soul. It’s what we’re here for. But while expanding your horizons, remember the basics of human nature, including the dark side. And don’t be surprised if you get fooled because you sought convenience or a short cut.
***
Back to Editorials page