I love gadgets, I love gizmo's and I love anything with a power button. It started with a Nintendo, it then moved on to a calculator watch that could hold all your phone numbers! It moved on to pagers, then a Nokia cellphone and my addiction to tech eventually landed me with a dependence to "The Core". [I JUST penned this term, you're welcome]. Apple products are typically great products in quality and value (even at the high ticket prices) but it's not even the devices themselves that I think we're addicted to, it's IOS itself.
From your favorite apps to iCloud to iTunes, if you own an iPhone or Mac, you're likely committed to the infrastructure of Apple... or as it's been known for centuries... THE CORE. With that said, I'm fine with it. My opinion for most things I buy is that I desire a good value over a good price. Every Apple device I've ever owned has been heads and shoulders above in quality and stability than any other electronic device or system I've ever had. Virus', glitches, lagging, these are all things other devices commonly had happening. None of that with Apple. When glitches occur with Apple products, they quickly code in a patch and your device updates itself. It's just EASIER.
After having just got on my knees to give a Steve-Jobs, I want to say that I'm OK with this addiction because I think that technology really does make life a little easier. I thought about this blog topic as I sit here on a Saturday night looking at 10 devices of various types in front of me; All going at the same time. On one hand, I'm being incredibly efficient, but on the other, it does seem a little overboard.
Let's just say that I'm watching football on mute on my iPad, backing up movies to an external hard drive, listening to my favorite Spotify channel on a Bluetooth speaker via my iPhone and writing this on my Netbook.
And you won't catch me writing without the video monitor for my daughter sitting on my desk. I can't help it.....
But as I consider how all my gadgets tether to another gadget and how my wife can essentially text me calendar invites so all I have to do is press 'accept' to add to my calendar. I think about how I can buy anything from my phone, I think about all of this and step back to realize the type of dependence I have on technology. Think about how NAKED you feel when you forget your phone?!?!? When I was a kid, cellphones only existed in cars that we couldn't afford. You had to check in every few hours or something (at a payphone or friend's house), but there was a thing called the answering machine where when you couldn't get a hold of someone you told them why you were calling. Then if they caught up with you, you get to interact. If not, you don't. Side note: People were MUCH better at giving messages back then too.
Now, you get the benefit of having information or entertainment at the tip of your fingers at any time, but you're virtually reachable at any time too. Now Big Brother has slowly crept into everyone's lives. [Mountain Men excluded] What I find dangerous about it all is that you don't have to learn to be bored anymore. A lot of character is built by learning to be bored. How do you manage boredom? Destructive? Constructive? Contemplative? That's where you learn about you. Now we don't have to reflect on that sort of stuff.
My two and a half year old can operate an iPhone or iPad as well as any older person I know. Will her generation learn to manage technology in a healthy manner? Will they be a huge shit show? Currently I'm leaning towards the latter, but I am hoping I'm wrong and trying to do my part.
But as I can objectively see the short falls of this wave of technology my generation has been riding our whole lives, I don't care. It honestly has the same characteristics of a drug addict. I consciously know technology today could create problems, but it's so awesome I don't plan on stopping.
As is the case with everything, it's all about balance. You can't keep your nose buried in your phone or tablet all day, completely ignoring the world around you. #teenagers. I like to go to the gym or take my dog on a run, but I have to have my phone and earbuds. We like to take trips to see new places, but we have to use the computer to find them. I like to go golfing, but love my GPS watch for reads on yardage. It's EVERYWHERE. Apple could truly be the real life Skynet. Tell me you couldn't see Chris Hemsworth trying to defeat something famously known as THE CORE.
Now in writing this I've got to think about other things that are truly useful in technology. Wireless technology and smaller devices allow for you to require less space in your life. My phone is also my calendar, my entertainment library, my portal for everything in my life! I have a God damn Panda Express app on my phone! Wait in lines no more, order and pay on your phone and your grub is ready when you arrive. If you are anti-tech for some hippy reason, shame on you. Beef and broccoli ready with a few swipes of your phone? But I digress.
Like I said, I'm backing up my movies right now in an attempt to rid my shelves of uncountable DVD's. When I'm done I will have access to every single movie I own via my Apple TV. My daughter's sleep overs are about to crack off. WIFI, Bluetooth, DVR, On Demand... C'mon maaaan. I'm even considering swapping security systems to the AT&T plan where you can operate EVE-RY-THANG from your phone. EVERYTHING? EVE-RY-THANG. Let's also not forget that where Apple is the hardware king, Google is the software king. (By the numbers Microsoft might actually win that honor, but Bill's the richest man on the planet, so he can kick rocks) Google offers cloud based services for free and if you're a Chrome browser fan, no matter what device you use, all of your settings are there. It just makes things EASIER.
All in all, I'm grateful to be in a generation that got to see rotary phones and smart phones in our life times. I think it will provide a unique perspective a decade or two from now. I used to love to see that glint in my dad's eyes when I'd tell him about a function he'd really find useful on a device he's had for 6 months; I hope I keep that glint too. "Oh, you mean I can send pictures in a text message?"
I'd like to think that our generation has had to adapt to the fast moving train of technology, therefore we'll be more equipped to handle it as it comes, but I would've held that same theory true for music and I don't know what the hell they pass off as Top 40 or hip-hop anymore. So if you see me in public staring at my phone, go ahead and judge me. But did you know that fracking on the borders of Croatia have created tension among neighboring countries?
Tomorrow is Sunday and I will post this article knowing that most of my friends and family will ignore it because it's not NFL related, but I too will be at home, near a TV with every NFL game available and every device I own tuned into something fantasy football related. And because I have all of this stuff at my fingertips, I can play hide and seek with my daughter all morning too. Missed a play? Rewind. Missed a freak injury? YouTube it. (Yeah, I'm sick like that) Now... Let me be very clear... I'm not above shunning my family during a Seahawks game; I'm just saying that technology doesn't have to hinder you from being able to engage with the family. So nerd out safely, kids. And tomorrow as I sit on my couch in front of my mobile command center, I will watch people out my front window jogging in the fresh air and I'll think to myself... "Poor saps, don't they know what they're missing?"
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