TechNo Savy

My mother is the first one to say that technology is evil, now this might have something to do with my naming her computer "Satan," the numerous viruses and trojans I've uploaded to her computer which make explosion noises upon random button presses or mouse clicks, or it might simply be because of her lack of adventure and fear of change.

When working on a computer one should trust what they are doing, whether the user actually knows how to operate the given program or not, exploring the options available should always come first. As beloved comic writer, xkcd, has laid out in his easy-to-follow flowchart.

Technology was initially created to make our lives easier. We started as hunters and gatherers and eventually needed a quicker way to wash our clothes. BOOM, the laundry machines, meet Mr. Washer and Mrs. Dryer. Now that's convenient, right? I mean, at first we (by "we" I of course mean "women") spent needless hours cleaning clothes by that whole washboard and bucket of water thing, then it was up on the ol' clothes line to dry. Can you imagine being the person that invented the washer machine? What a great tagline they must have had, "You said you wanted a voice in society, you said you wanted to not be belittled by your husband at his business meetings, you said you wanted just a little bit more time to make your husband coffee in the morning; well, one out of three ain't too dang shabby. LAUNDRY MACHINES!" Mr. Laundry was a smart man.

So, technology progessed...

As of right now, I am sitting on the floor of an airport gate area, people watching. There is an Asian couple at my 2 o'clock, the man is writting an email on his macbook pro, and his woman is listening to music on her iPod nano yellow. Two of the three boys of the family of five in front of me are huddled around the third on his Nintendo DS. Next to them, a man is on his cell phone while his todler son and wife sat next to him, asleep. Two grade-school children were giggling at a youtube video they had seen on an iPod touch. Is there ever a line that our society can cross? A line which separates the technology that aids our progress and technology that aids our entertainment?

When do our advancements begin to impeed more advancements? With our new "gadents and gizmos," as people over 56 commonly refer to them, we expect life to be quick, effortless, and efficient. Our laundry, our travel, our food, and even our fun time.

As a culture, we are past the fun of simplistic entertainment and onto "GameBox" (-Sandy Baron original) TV, music, and more. It has become too much effort to walk outside and play. We no longer enjoy the fun of socializing. Instead everything is to be mutlitasked. We watch TV with our computers or phones out. We talk to our friends while we text. I walk to class and for everyone 4 people I pass, one of them is looking down at their phone. Is this the future we want? Or is this the future we deserve and have been dealt justly?
Should something be done to halt this expansion of technobable or is it something good we must fit into our lives?

Is technology helping our future, hindering it, or does tech have it's own agenda. (Good tagline for a movie, no?)