I Got The iPhone

I got the iPhone. I was going to wait for the next generation too, but I just couldn't help myself. I did it because I can. I can grab a cup of coffee for a buck and read the newspaper in Central Park before work, on my iPhone. I can watch YouTube music videos on the Elliptical, upon the request of my index finger. I can consolidate and sync my numerous calendars; I can fast-forward through voicemails. I can. I am presumably empowered, yet feel a bit bewildered.

Tuesday: Woke up to the sound of "Timba" on my iPhone alarm clock. I turned on a morning news show on cable, but had to turn it off because the non-news news was making me late. Grabbed my keys, inserted my in-ear headphones, and didn't walk a half-a-block before the flat-screen adverts signaled me to the L-train entrance staircases. Five stops later, I reemerged uptown and caught the time/temperature broadcast from the top of the CNN building. Arrived at my computer at 9am, stayed until 6pm, and returned home to my home-sweet-homepage on MacBook and TimeWarner.

Seeking knowledge, isn't that positive? I grapple to recall the actress in that movie; Did Hillary wear a teal pants suit or skirt on her first day in Senate? What is the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? Is this knowledge or information? Not only do I want to know, I want to connect. I want to exchange impulsive texts with friends and family, and be accessible to co-workers. Externally encompassed by media, I still crave it in personal pastimes: I long for my weekend Netflix mornings and the "fierce" Project Runway Finale. I obsess over Primary coverage and subscribe to podcasts. I shun it, I love it, I need it.

My addiction is common, casually accepted as just a sign of the times. We sit in front of monitors, whether on an office chair or sofa, and behave with automation: reading, typing, sending, searching, watching, consuming. Just the tune-in itself is a passive purchase to advertisers. Means, not need, is the determinant behind the Consumption/Production cycle. And since our will is at the simple command of fingertips, round and round we go. I do not denounce modern technology; but I do question, what and when is enough?

A familiar tale, from the movie The God's Must be Crazy (1980):

"Civilized man refused to adapt himself to his environment.

Instead he adapted his environment to suit him.

So he built cities, roads, vehicles, and machinery.

And he put up power lines to run his laborsaving devices.

But he didn't know when to stop.

The more he improved his surroundings to make life easier, the more complicated he made it. Now his children are sentenced to years of school, to learn how to survive in this complex and hazardous habitat."

With a love of knowledge and innovation, I must question what effect technology has on our sense of reality. I refuse to assume the role of the cautionary Granny in fear of the future, but I do encourage a broader perspective. What of the African bushmen à la The God's Must be Crazy? How do we live in comparison to others, and what is our quality of life? Have we in fact created an addictive, hazardous habitat?

Comments

[OhioPoBoy]

At least with the iPhone we can have just one device to make us crazy. It replaces my phone, my mp3 player, my calculator, my watch, my e-mail and browser, my dictionencyclowiki and my gameboy.

[davedave]

it takes years to learn to be an effective bushman.

the pastoral paradise or the savage jungle?

run faster screamed the red queen--faster to stay in place...

d