iCrazy: Is Technology Taking Over?

And all is well. Problem is that all this ups my cost of living and I’m not even spending money on replacement technology for constructive purposes. Instead, I’m buying things to make leisure more leisurely. It’s money spent on making media I had before more convenient right now. And often times, it mobilizes things self-indulgently. Do I really need to watch an episode of The Office on the bus to work? Not really, but I do it because it makes me feel like I’m in a science fiction film.

Yet, fighting the compulsion to fall in line and spend excessive amounts on superfluous techno gear seems to be increasingly futile. The new gizmos are entirely too slick and futuristic to turn a totally blind eye. They seduce me. And they’re rapidly being assimilated into everyday society as fast as they appear in stores (online and tangible). My fear is that people are losing touch with reality. I, myself, find that I have trouble functioning without my cell phone or my newly purchased video iPod or my laptop or any sort of electronic device. I wander aimlessly around my apartment in a sort of limbo, unsure of what do next (Should I eat or check my email fifteen times every ten minutes?). After an hour of that, I start to feel numb and I usually sit on my couch in a strange stasis, unable to smile or move.

Just last week, I saw a man on a $5,000 Segway human transporter (an electric scooter for use in pedestrian areas) waiting in line for concert tickets. He couldn’t just stand still in line like the other humans. He had to stand high atop his metallic steed, shimmering in the sunlight. At last, a definitive visual representation of a “tool.” Sorry, but it has to be said.

Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised to see a Bluetooth earpiece in his ear and a pristinely white iPod strapped to his belt.