Find yourself checking e-mail incessantly? Is your world dominated by gadgets, PDAs, laptops, gizmos, DVRs, PVRs and LCDs? Are you daydreaming about checking your Blackberry in the middle of a dinner party. Then, you may be a technology addict. That said, what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with embracing new technology and being on the cutting edge? We should celebrate people who love technology rather than paint it as a problem. If it wasn’t for them, there wouldn’t be anyone to buy products that are still expensive and buggy? If it wasn’t for them, there would never be enough volume so new technology can come down in price so the rest of us could afford it. So, let’s love the tech addict. We need them. Right?
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4 Comments
Hi Mark,
New technology is fine, even embracing it to some degree. But I think the point that a lot of people make is that for tech addicts, that’s pretty much all they embrace, and there lies the problem. I find myself doing some of the things that you wrote about. One of my favorite pastimes is to browse the Web and build up my blogs. But I have to carefully balance that passion with being a father and husband. I’m not suggesting that you are saying that it’s all right to blindly love tech, but we do have to keep ourselves in check, wouldn’t you agree?
I second the motion!!
I third that. I, myself, have realized more and more this past year of my addiction. We DO need a reality check now and then.
Take a day off. Cut out the email, cell phone, internet, etc. Get out and do something.
There’s more to the world than the world wide web…
Besides the brain damage, I think drugs and technology are very similar. Both are fine in small doses, both can become a problem if overused.
Particularly, both can be used as a escape from having to actually think about one’s own personal life.
I was addicted to the internet all through high school. Every day when I would get home from school I would go on the internet for 3 hours. At the time, I thought I was being productive — reading the NYT, checking email, looking up stocks, etc. Only after I graduated did I realze that I never actually did anything with my time. I used the internet as a sedative for my insatiable boredom.
Only recently have I been able to confront this boredom and take it head on. Now, when I feel bored, instead of fleaing to the internet, I try writing a song, or painting, or some other form of creative expression. I’ve found this change in lifestyle has improved my life in many ways.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the internet and technology can be a great thing. But, I have a feeling that if we aren’t careful, we will soon find ourselves in the position of being dependent upon technology to give us satisfaction.