I read recently a short story by Marc Stiegler called The Gentle Seduction. It chronicles the life of a woman in the approximate present time who is initially afraid of technology and how it changes her life, but over time grows to accept it. She begins to use cybernetic devices that at one point save her life. The woman begins to appreciate the uses for technology, and eventually she is able to disconnect her consciousness from her physical body. People in this reality are essentially immortal, and they have expanded far beyond the reaches of our solar system. The story has a sci-fi bent, but that misses the larger point.
The message of most technology-based science fiction is that we must not only adapt to new technologies and how they affect our lives, but also be careful in their adoption. So many times throughout the 20th century, we could look to science fiction authors for guidance. Jules Verne predicted nuclear powered submarines able to submerge for extended periods of time as well as space travel to the moon.
Humans are a species generally resistant to change, but more often than not, change comes anyway. This is why it is important for us to be concerned about where technology is taking us. It's important to have technically-sound people deciding our policies. It's important so we avoid a Cylon takeover.
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