Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Technology Burnout

I am a geek and as such I am drawn to technology. I can't help myself. It doesn't matter if I need or have a use for the latest gizmo, I just naturally want it. At least that is how I was until recently.
I have found that I am getting more and more annoyed with the way technology has taken over our lives. I still like all the blinking lights, touch screens and stylish designs, but I am better able to control my desire to own these techno toys than before. Since I can watch the few shows that I enjoy on the internet, I don't even turn on my TV anymore and even canceled my Satellite subscription. I no longer care that my cell phone does not have all the features that are available, and I don't care that my computer is two years old. I don't read gaming mags, PC mags or visit tech sites like I did just 6 months ago. I'm getting tired of technology.
I still keep my computer in good shape. I still pick up my PSP or DS to play games on occassion, but I no longer care if I get the newest console. I may be getting old and just deciding that there are many other things in life far more important, or I may just have realized that keeping up with tech is nigh impossible.
I still keep my computers running in tip top shape, but I have no desire to replace it. I spend less and less time surfing the net and find that I enjoy reading a good book far more than I did just a few years ago. I'm worried about the environment, the economy and I resent the fact that I can't go anywhere in the world without being on camera. I prefer road maps to GPs and I feel sorry for our kids. They will never know what life was like when a home computer was something none of us had. We did our homework with pencil and paper, and we could write in cursive an art form that is apparenlty being lost on the kids of today. The only people we knew were the ones in our neighborhood, not people from half a world away that we met on Myspace.
Technology has done wonders to enable us to become more efficient, communicate globally, and in some ways become smarter. Still I can't shake the feeling that we are loosing a bit of ourselves in the process. Sacrificing some of what makes us human.