Technology Rules My Life
Yesterday, I forgot my phone at home which by itself is a pretty forgivable offense, but what i started to realize was that my life has become a reliance on a large number of electronic gadgets that continually entertain me and keep me moving from one activity to another. It seems ironic to complain about the reliance on technology and all that is bad about it, when I am writing on a computer and posting the result on my blog, but we live in the world we live in, I don’t make the rules of the game, I just play in it every day. This is what I learned from this experience.
When I realized my mistake, at first I contemplated driving an hour out of my way to go back and get my phone but then I decided to ride it out and see what the results would be. I mean, what was the worst that could happen? I was supposed to meet my associate at Tim Horton’s to use some internet and work on a collaborative project. Now he often changes plans at the last minute, ok, he always changes plans at the last minute. He was supposed to meet me at 10 AM. He finally showed up at approximately 11:30. He looked perplexed, and inquired why I didn’t answer my phone? Learning I had forgot it, he informed me that he tried to inform me of his tardiness, and had called a few times. When I did get home there were seven missed calls, a text message and a voice mail from him. I guess that if I was kidnapped at least someone would notice.
Missing My Phone Is Like Missing An Arm
Throughout the day, I began to notice how much a part of my life my phone had become. I never realized how often I look at it, to get whatever information I desire. Did someone call? Did I get a text? Was that an email? From several different account? Who has sent me a message on Facebook? What time is it? There are so many questions my little phone answers every day. I kept patting my pockets to make sure I really forgot it, I guess maybe I thought that it was hiding on me, and if I just kept looking it would reappear and tell me all of the things I need to know. It has become clear I am addicted to technology and I don’t know if I will ever be happy without it.
Total Addiction to Technology
My addiction to electronic devices makes me wonder how I ever survived my life when just having a CD player was considered “cutting edge technology”. I thought back to try to remember what life was like before cell phones. I know that I resisted the technology for a long time, I even said I would never get a cell phone, because my thought was, if people couldn’t get in touch with me, then they couldn’t bother me. My phone was at home, and I was never there, so I was rarely bothered at all. Then I gave in and got my first cell phone. It didn’t really work very well, it was brown and looked like a mini-phone. The cycle had begun. In about a year, I upgraded to a newer flip phone which at that time were brand new. Soon I was getting rid of my home phone and upgrading again. I couldn’t stop myself, this time it was for the Razor, which was just the best phone I had ever seen.
Texting is Idiotic, That’s Why I Do It
Also it is important to point out that I learned to receive and send my first text messages during this time. My first reaction to text messaging was, “That’s stupid. Why would I write something when I could just call and say it much faster. What am I an idiot?” The first text message I ever got made my phone ring, and I thought someone was calling me, I answered it and nobody was there. It was about 10 minutes later I realized what had happened. I had to ask for help to respond. After that I was hooked and still am to this day. A phone call is an investment of your time, a text message is a much smaller commitment of your time. I learned how to write everything using as few characters as possible. lol. I think that texting is a great representation of where the intellect of our world is heading. Say as little as possible with as little effort as possible. People used to write letters to each other that not only took hours to write, they took days to deliver, you really had to think about what you wanted to say. Today, these thoughts are sent and received almost simultaneously, you would think there would be better communication and problems resulting from it, but it seems like there are more. How can anyone explain that?
Computers Suck, But Can’t Live Without Them
Then you just look at the other electronic devices that make our lives move in the way that they do. Everyone has a computer of some sort, I have two, due to the natural progression of things, and I have to admit that they make my life better, but I am sure my life was good before and would be fine now if I didn’t have a computer to perform mundane tasks on. When I was in high school many years ago, there were like three computers in the whole school and only two kids knew how to use them. They were big and cumbersome and I really didn’t see that they would be very useful in any real way. In college, computers showed a little value as a great word processing tool, better than a typewriter, but little else. Then the internet came, and I am embarrassed by my initial reaction to that technology, “What the hell would I ever use that for?” Little did I know that I was witnessing the greatest revolution in information since the Guttenburg Bible. Today I would probably ask, “What the hell would I do without it?” Funny how technology has changed me and my own perceptions of life.
The Future’s So Bright, I Can’t Wait
This all makes me wonder what is coming next? Phones are already becoming interactive and before long all computers will be voice operated and will talk to you and tell you all that you want to know. It will be like talking to a really boring smart person. But it will be neat. I am already enthralled by the Iphone, because when you ask it if it is going to snow today, it answers you. That just blows my mind, and makes me want more, talking interactive books that will teach you about life in Ancient Athens. All I know is that whatever is coming, I will more than likely mock the technology at first, and then use it for the rest of my life. All I can possibly hope for is to never forget my phone again.
