No iPhone 5 for Me

            I do not own a smart phone, and the “Find My iPhone” GPS service does not help convince me to purchase this type of phone.  In fact, the feature makes me more hesitant to purchase this type of phone now that I know it has this kind of capability. David Pogue’s argument is that the feature only works if the customer turns this feature on themselves, but how are we to know that the phone is still not being tracked at all times without our permission? He goes on to argue that we have bigger things to worry about than if companies may or may not be tracking their customers, but I disagree. We have all given up a lot of privacy in this technical age because of the convenience the technology brings in our lives, and this scares me that we are quick to dismiss that we all have a right to privacy.

            Since David Pogue is a technology columnist in a prominent New York newspaper, I have to question his objectivity in this issue. He was thrilled to learn that the “Find My Phone” component was able to recover his stolen device he so obviously loves, but I can’t help but wonder if he has any kind of monetary incentive in sharing his story.  I realize that his article about the iPhone 5 expressed frustration with the universal compatibility issue, but the rest of his article was very complimentary about the product and the genius of the Apple Company in general. His plea to his Twitter fans and his interview with PBS is great publicity for the company. He also paints Apple in a very attractive light that helps their customers with not only the use of the device, but also the recovery of it if lost. He seemed to completely brush off the idea that privacy is losing its footing in the country, because he loves his device.

            I am not saying that technology is evil.  I just do not feel the need to disclose where I am, whether knowingly or unknowingly any time soon.