I like this article, and can definitely resonate with it—like just a night ago when my phone was out of battery while attending a dance night, and instead of texting on my phone when I was standing on the sidelines, I instead observed the styles and techniques of others on the floor.
But this isn't the entire story. We have to look at what's really behind our desire to become attached to technology. It's not the devices themselves that we're attached to, it seems like—more like what they do.
The guy that has his laptop propped up in the driver seat probably detests his boring commute and how annoying radio ads are, and is looking for more entertainment in his daily commute. The lunch party friends are texting because even though they're meeting with their friends in person—there are others that they'd like to improve their relationship with, or just generally enjoy talking with.
Has technology's enabling of making us more connected with each other—that everyone's but a text message or email away using a block of plastic and metal in our pocket with an improvised lightbulb on it—really improved our friendships and our connections with each other? That's the real question we have to answer before writing off technology as something that's simply disrupting our personal relations. In real life, yes, it is a disruption, but is the value of being connected worth it?
But this isn't the entire story. We have to look at what's really behind our desire to become attached to technology. It's not the devices themselves that we're attached to, it seems like—more like what they do.
The guy that has his laptop propped up in the driver seat probably detests his boring commute and how annoying radio ads are, and is looking for more entertainment in his daily commute. The lunch party friends are texting because even though they're meeting with their friends in person—there are others that they'd like to improve their relationship with, or just generally enjoy talking with.
Has technology's enabling of making us more connected with each other—that everyone's but a text message or email away using a block of plastic and metal in our pocket with an improvised lightbulb on it—really improved our friendships and our connections with each other? That's the real question we have to answer before writing off technology as something that's simply disrupting our personal relations. In real life, yes, it is a disruption, but is the value of being connected worth it?