So the desk in my student flat is starting to look a lot more like a display case in an electronics shop. But the problem lies therein.
I never seem to use a lot of the gadgets I worked hard for and dreamt of owning for a very long time. For example, when I bought my Nintendo Wii I thought it was incredible and I played with it for days and days on end. I probably shouldn't have done that to be honest but it was a revolutionary device in my eyes and I had never experienced anything close to what it was capable of. I spent hours of the summer and many hard earned pounds buying games and accessories for the Wii so I could discover it's full potential. It was incredible and I had never found a gaming experience so enthralling.
Until yesterday.
I was enjoying a coffee in my local coffee shop and I decided to take full advantage of the free WiFi on offer to browse through the App Store on my iPhone. I found a game called DoodleJump and decided to download it.
In my opinion, I feel as though technology had kept a horrible secret from me. I felt as though I had wasted hundreds of pounds on games I would never play again because of a little yellow man who would happily bounce up my screen with the occasional boost from a spring, a jet pack or a propellor hat. The last of which made my friend smile from ear to ear with enjoyment, yet he never wants to play the Wii. And all of this enjoyment for £0.59. It makes me wonder if I'll ever want to buy another games console again.
Also I have a, now redundant, iPod which gathers dust on my table. I remember in 2001 when Steve Jobs announced the iPod I couldn't believe it. "One thousand songs in your pocket", he said and my jaw hit the floor. For me this was the most revolutionary device I had ever heard of, I immediately wanted one and felt sour for my, at the time, 3 month old portable CD player as it wouldn't ever travel with me again, eating up AA batteries and skipping every time the bus went over anything uneven.
But the saddest thing of all, for me, is my poor laptop computer. It gets switched on when I want to write anything in great length, such as this blog post or an essay. Anything else and I hit Safari, or Mail or even Facebook and it's right there in my hand. No need for the clumpy, heavy MacBook.
It makes me look back at my "technological timeline" and think of how quickly the Mega Drive went out of the living room and the PlayStation came in. It left soon after and was replaced by something else which meant I needed a bigger TV and then an HD ready TV and it continued.
But is everything going to be in the palms of our hands now?
Why do we need to buy a TV that the whole family can watch when we can give everyone their own device to watch whatever they like?
Is the iPad going to make anything else I own redundant?
Such is the way of life I'm afraid. People come and go and so does technology. The other day I was complaining that my email doesn't get pushed straight to my phone, even though I can search for it on the same device. A few years ago I would have been stunned to hear I could get email when I'm not plugged in to the wall.
How reliant have we all become on technology?
What is next?
If we keep demanding it, then someone keeps making it. If we want something improved, someone will do it. Most of the things in your house today will be replaced and upgraded before you fully appreciate them.
This is technology, I'm afraid. It is a beautiful thing, but also a force none of us can control.
3 comments:
Oh so very true Darryl. What more can I say...?
An excellent post where you have reflected on where you have come today. I really enjoyed reading this.
Changes will continue and at greater rate as each technology company sets the bar higher and higher. Who knows what the future will hold.In the meantime your wii is not redundant. Think about how you might use it in the classroom?
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