11.9.07

A deeper look at the commonplace

alarm clock
Pronunciation: &-'lärm 'kläk
Etymology:
from Middle French alarme, from Old Italian all'arme, literally, to the arms
from Old French dialect (Picard) cloque bell, from Medieval Latin clocca, of Celtic origin

Function: noun


: a device other than a watch for indicating or measuring time that can be set to emit a sound at a desired time


Technology Analysis:
Alarm clock is one of the devices that exert an enormous influence on our daily microsociological lives, yet most people barely ever ponder that influence. Alarm clock’s presence is all-pervasive especially in the Western societies. This piece of equipment, usually not bigger than 8x8x8 inches is used to synchronize an individual’s sleep patterns with the rhythm of the surrounding society or corresponding work environment. A loud repetitive sound (music or radio are also used) wakes the individual up at a programmed time.


- Alarm clock’s history is the classic scenario of a technological device which was originally invented as a convenient servant, but became a master of its inventors’ daily lives.

- It has an ambiguous standing between a tool and a machine. We use it as a tool to mechanize our lives.

- Although the alarm clock does not increase its user’s capacities per se, it increases the efficiency of an entire society by regulating working hours. Conversely, stable functioning of many societies is quite dependent on the alarm clock

- 2 interesting observations can be made about the limiting effects of the alarm clock.
1. It distances people from natural sleep patterns, which are built around daylight cycles.
2. It abruptly ends many dreams, or even wakes the person up before a dream has started.

- Indirect side effects of the alarm clock may include:
Sleep deprivation (often leading to health problems)
Use of stimulants (caffeine, amphetamines)

- Unlike with many technologies, it is always easy to refuse the alarm clock. However, your routine and schedule would have to be changed first.

- If the alarm clock stops functioning, but the current routine and schedule remain active, consequences for the individual’s professional and personal life could be problematic. Imagine stumbling and falling on a treadmill.

- Just like any clock device, the alarm clock supports the mass obsession with timeliness and regularity, and, in fact, perpetuates the myth of “time”.

- To reiterate what has been said earlier, the alarm clock routinizes our sleeping and waking life patterns, and in most cases synchronizes them with those currently active in our society.
BUT!
This last part is not inherent in its mechanism, and an alarm clock can be set up to work at any schedule.


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