There is a Time for Technology, Just Not All the Time

I've said in previous blog posts that I have differing opinions on the use of technology, and many of my negative opinions come from the way I was raised: mostly without a lot of "new" technology (i.e, the Internet, cell phones, and social media) in a very rural town without a whole lot going for it. While I believe there are many good uses to technology, I'd like to take a moment to vent about some of the things that bother me about new technology and how it has changed our culture. Hopefully I'll get enough of it out of my system so I won't spend my entire blog complaining like an old man about "those darn kids and their celluar phones!"

A good example of this comes from an advertisement I watched for Pocket, an online and mobile app that allows users to save websites for later viewing. The video can be found here, although I had some trouble getting Vimeo to work correctly: Pocket on Vimeo. If that doesn't work, perhaps it can be accessed straight from their website here: Get Pocket. There are a lot of good intentions behind this app, namely convenience. If I find something interesting or important on the Internet and would like to quickly access it later, I can do so using Pocket. However, something that stood out the most was that the woman in the video (who is very busy and often needs to save online articles to read later) struck me as someone who was hooked on the Internet and didn't quite seem to have her priorities straight. For instance, in one scene she and two other people are standing in line at a coffee shop or bakery of some sort. All three of them are glued to their mobile devices, seemingly oblivious to anything around them. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them missed their order because Instagram was so riveting at the time. Some might call waiting in line a perfect opportunity to browse the Internet, so I'll try to give them the benefit of the doubt. (I, as a shy introvert, would probably never engage a stranger in conversation while standing in line, but I try to make a point to be a little more aware of my surroundings while in public).

Later in the video the woman walks her dog to a park, all the while telling the audience the benefits of using Pocket in the hectic world we live in. She then proceeds to sit down at a bench, throw a ball for her dog to chase, and continue catching up on her Internet reading via smartphone. By this point I found myself yelling at the computer screen, "WHY AREN'T YOU PLAYING WITH YOUR DOG??!!" 

This is what annoys me most about society's overuse of technology. Instead of enjoying a beautiful day at the park and socializing with her dog (and perhaps other dog owners) the woman chose to sit on a bench and catch up on reading that could probably be saved for later after the sun had gone down, her dog was happily napping someplace, or perhaps a rain storm had rolled in. Why do we find it so necessary to be glued to technology instead of interacting with the world around us? I'm not the most sociable party animal in the world, but I hate when I find myself in a situation like this one: 

So...does anyone want to chat, or drink...or anything?

 If left unchecked, this reliance on technology can definitely have negative consequences. Sure, not chatting to your friends at a party isn't exactly going to have a huge political or environmental backlash, but the reliance on the media to do our thinking certainly will. One of my favorite heavy metal musicians/artist/activist/all-around badass Otep Shamaya says it very well in her song "Smash the Control Machine":

(If heavy metal isn't quite your style the lyrics can be found here: Otep: Smash the Control Machine )There are plenty of political and social issues addressed in this song, but the lyrics that really seemed relevant were: "So we live our digital lives On multiple screens And we forget that The blood of the workers Grease the machines."

The idea here is that we should stop giving so much power to the media to the point that our lives become nothing but "work, buy, consume, die" when there is so much more going on around us, whether that be important political and social issues, or something as simple as taking your dog for a walk or having an uninterrupted conversation with a friend or relative.

I've used enough of your time though, dear reader. Turn off the Internet for a while and take your dog (or roommate) for a walk. I'm sure Fido (or Frank) will thank you.