A Slave to Technology

Think technology makes your life easier? How about convenient?
How about affords you more free time? Improve the quality of your life? Think again.

I find it curious that so may people are wired and connected like never before, and yet no one seems to realize that technology does not set you free. What it does is make you a slave. (Yup, that's what I said. YOU are a slave to technology my friend. Did I mention you may also be obsessed?)

Technology makes you constantly accessible no matter where you are (and call me old fashioned) but there is something to be said for "quiet time" and the mystique of being "unavailable".

Don't get me wrong. I like the convenience of technology, but only when I want it to be convenient. Having your cell phone with you and constantly ringing does not set you free. It makes you a slave.
Feeling the obligation to answer and talk (no matter where you are or what you are doing) does not make your life easier.  (It may also make you rude too. Depending on where you are talking.) And let's talk email.  How many times a day do you have to stop and check your email? Once, twice? I think not.  How about when your home server or host goes down? (If you panic or rant on the inconvenience it is causing and you don't have the time to deal with the "situation" then you are a slave.)  So many people are addicted (and slaves) to their technology devices that now we have laws limiting when and where people can use their technology. It's like common sense (and let's not forget manners) have gone out the window.

I like to play a game in my mind occasionally. It goes like this... 

A terrorist drops an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) bomb and all the technology stops working. Phones, computers, cars. Everything.  And panic ensues. I however remain calm and cool. Know why? Because I am not a slave to technology. I still remember how to write and address a letter. I can communicate with a handwritten note, and I actually do remember life without email. I will survive. (Will you?)

It's just not healthy being connected and wired to be available at a moments notice (for the most inconsequential things). Just as it is not healthy to be on Facebook, or playing games on your iPad for 10 hours at a time. I mean really. Stop being an addicted technology slave. Quit surfing the web, quit playing those games, and stop chatting. Get a life. Go outside. Read a book. (And I don't mean on a Kindle.)

I don't get it. (I'm old and confused.)

In my quest to be relevant and up to date with the latest "social communication tools" I have stumbled on a terrible realization
that why I am on Facebook (with hundreds of my closest friends), and I can tweet (so that the whole world can following me) - I just don't get it.

Don't get me wrong. I love a great "viral" video (YouTube), and I love getting those little gifts on my Facebook page. It is just the constant and nonstop social chatter that has me stopping and scratching my head. Why?

What is it about the technology and the sites that makes people want to tell total strangers what they had for lunch or that they partied so hard they vomited. Now that is certainly something I find interesting! (Please note: written with a sarcastic tone.)

So what is it that drives these people to communicate at such a
personal level? Could it be that the sites are for free? (Well maybe.) Could it be that people need to be heard to believe that their lives are relevant to others? (Possibly.) I have giving this much thought, because I don't get it.

Then late one night (last week) when I was reading an article about marketing strategies written by a "hip, young Stanford grad" I was struck by the realization that I wasn't going to be hip and thirty again. (Yeah, I know it is surprising to you that I was hip once.) There it was. As plain as the anti-wrinkle cream on my face. Damn - I was old! I wasn't hip. I can't stay up late enough to party (let alone drink till I puke), and I don't want anyone to know what I am really up to (because I would be embarrassed.) Wow. Talk about "enlightenment." There was nothing to get.

But....I don't need to get it. I am old and confused!