Happy Nice Mall

This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. Here is a collection past columns.

If the tech predictions come true, we’ll soon be wearing computers and connecting to immersive realms of virtual people and places, perhaps blended with the real world around us.

(I don’t want to use the word “buzzword”)metadata store” here because uh. Coming from science fiction, this term has been applied to anything and everything we just had to say. Internet. But that’s partially what I’m talking about.)

I am both worried and excited about potential next-generation technologies that could further blur the lines between computers and us, and between online and real life. I can get into the idea of ​​glasses that let me scroll restaurant menu items and I feel like the sizzling burger is in front of me or inside the hood that lets me Exercise next to a virtual lake in Patagonia.

No one can predict how long it will take for this fictitious future of the Internet to materialize and become mainstream. if he ever does. But if in-face computers and more realistic digital realities are coming our way, let’s start thinking about the implications. now.

I don’t have a good human guide for the Metaverse in person. (Oh, that word again.) But I know what I’m telling Mark Zuckerberg or Apple CEO Tim Cook is that we should do it instead of letting our potentially brave new tech world decide on etiquette, ethics, norms, rewards, and risks. needs. .

How we use technology should not be left to companies dreaming of electronics and software. It should depend on us individually and collectively. This can happen through deliberate thought and careful design or lack thereof.

I’m writing this now because Apple reportedly is planning introduced their first computer for the face next year or so.

Apple seems to imagine face computers to be similar Microsoft’s HoloLens, Snap’s Experimental Glasses or failed Google Glass – will blend virtual images with the world around us, sometimes called “augmented reality”. Imagine watching a car engine repair video while a manual covers the diagrams on the fan belt you are trying to repair.

Apple has a reputation for delivering promising technologies to the mass market. We will see, but it is clear that a lot will happen. activity and Caution in face computers and immersive technologies of all forms. (Counterpoint: Some technologists have criticized the rise of face computers. most of the last ten years.)

What I want all of us to do is start thinking about where we want to focus the promise of this technology and limit the risks, whether we make a fuss about virtual reality or not.

I pay attention to what goes wrong when we let technology overwhelm us and try to figure out the details later.

We have websites and apps, in part because of the unwillingness or inability to imagine what could go wrong with technology. follow us wherever we go, and that sell information to the highest bidders. Sometimes we have automakers that protect us with smart technologies that help offset human frailties, and sometimes other times. seems to exacerbate them. We have the best and worst of online human interactions.

We should all think about this now before we put supercomputers in our faces.

what does it do we Do you want this technology? schools, offices or comedy clubs in virtual reality? What do we want from the next generation of immersive internet for our children? Do we want to drive while our headlines tweet in our sights? Do we also want erase the gap between digital life and real life?

It may be wrong to establish norms and laws around technologies that may take many years to become major. But tech companies and tech experts aren’t waiting. They are now shaping the internet future they envision. If we don’t intervene, it puts companies in the driver’s seat. And we saw the downside of that.

As the holiday season approaches, we want to hear from our readers about the new ways you use technology (apps, social media, websites, gadgets or more) to help you plan your travel, parties, shopping or family time. Tell us about an app or site you use during the holidays and what makes it useful or the technology you stopped using and why. We may publish a selection of responses in an upcoming newsletter. Email ontech@nytimes.com.