iCrazy: Is Technology Taking Over?

I’m talking about the GPS navigation in cars. I’m talking about TiVo. I’m talking about the yearn for everyone to be a hedonistic god—indulging in media orgies at every opportunity. To listen to any song at any time just because they can. To watch part of a show (on a super 20 billion pixel HD LCD television), pause it for fifteen hours, and then watch the rest. These pricey media modifiers all seem so excessive and, frankly, a waste of money for those of us on a budget.

Alas, you won’t find any gadget hounds parting with such gizmos. People scrape by for rent and food, but have premium cable services and Netflix subscriptions they are unwilling to relinquish. They stress about being in debt, but have no problem forking over three hundred plus dollars for a video iPod.

Why? I guess it’s the evolved (and new and improved!) twenty-first century human nature to demand the latest, most, best, tiniest and, most importantly, the coolest.

Why else would folks walk around with those little Bluetooth wireless earpieces? These people can’t all be secret service agents that need to get important communications and have their hands free to draw their guns and save the President. They’re not all Jack Bauers, are they? No, they’re regular, every day people whose pressing business isn’t pressing enough to warrant an investment in a hands-free communication apparatus.

And, yes, the headsets aren’t that expensive; the Netflix and the iPods aren’t that expensive; but remember these are all accessories to other pricier forms of entertainment technology (cell phones, computers, televisions, DVD players, etc.). And it all adds up to a hefty price in the end. Especially if you want to fully accessorize yourself.

Let’s say I purchase the iPod. But, I have a van and I want to listen to my entire Flock of Seagulls collection. So, I buy an iTrip that makes it possible to blast “I Ran (So Far Away)” over my car’s supreme sound system. I’m going to the beach with my friends and wishing there was a way to bring my jams out on the sand to keep the party going. Now that I think about it, there’s an old compact disc boom box in my closet that works fine, but I couldn’t bring that because it’s not slick enough or the color white or small enough and it also requires four D batteries. You mean it doesn’t charge on its own?! NO! Plus, I’d have to lug around all those huge CDs I want to play because I wouldn’t dream of braving it with only the AM/FM tuner. So, instead, I buy a portable speaker system for my iPod.

And I have a great time.