Screens For The Poor, Human Connection For The Rich – Even In Healthcare?

Not so long ago, worries about the digital divide represented the anxiety that the rich will have access to more information and more possibilities in every area of life compared to those who cannot afford connected digital devices. Currently, trends show that human connection might become a luxury good for the rich, while poor families might not be able to afford living screen-free in the future. We asked how would that translate into healthcare and what could we do to ensure the treasure of human contact to everyone in the coming decades. Is digital detox becoming a luxury good? Although the techno-dystopian sci-fi series’, Black Mirror’s season 5 did not meet fan’s high expectations, the Smithereens episode merits attention, especially because it contains a situation resembling too well the current attitude and position of the haves and have-nots towards technology. While the CEO of an imagined social media network, Smithereen, is on a 10-day-long retreat in the mountains without access to screens or technology, Chris, the main protagonist, a kind of Uber driver, kidnaps an intern of Smithereen out of unprocessed grief for her fiancée who was killed in a car accident. He feels guilt and feels responsible for what happened: he couldn’t take down his phone while driving and checked a Smithereen notification on his phone when the incident took place. The contrast that the leader of a tech company has the means, the access, or the willingness to go on digita...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Bioethics Future of Medicine addiction development divide gap Healthcare human human connection human contact inequality low-income poor rich screen smart smartphone society technology Source Type: blogs