I have been an advocate of personal computer technology since the mid-80’s. But I now have serious issues with it and I am reaching the belief that this is a serious societal Frankenstein.
Sure, I Freep and surf the Internet a lot in the evening or if I go out to dinner by myself, etc. Probably a lot more than most people. Going to and from work, I listen to audiobooks nearly constantly.
But when you go to a party, and see dozens of people with their faces buried in their phones, or go to a family get together and see the same thing (parents and children alike) or you see families or even a young couple at dinner...not looking or talking to each other, but instead gazing down at their phone...I find that deeply and profoundly disturbing.
And this doesn’t even address the millions of people who are on the roads, should be driving, but are instead either talking or texting while their car slowly slides from one side of their highway lane to the other without their seeming to even notice. I don’t find that profoundly disturbing as much as I find it frightening. I have an acquaintance who was a devoted motorcycle rider, had a 20 grand motorcycle, and gave it up completely because it was too nerve-wracking to drive.
I fully recognize that the power of the Internet to obtain or disseminate information and entertainment is revolutionary, and that people who might be housebound now have an avenue of socialization they might not have had before, but I am disturbed by what I see.
I know the Pokemon Go thing is a game, people find it interesting, but...I feel the estrangement of people from the physical world is going to come back and bite us in a way we don’t expect.
Listen to me. I used to be the one everyone looked to for the trends in these things. I guess I really am getting older. Maybe wiser.
We are on the same page.
Why deal with reality when virtual reality is so much nicer?
Everywhere I go, peoples’ faces are riveted to their electronic masters.
I sit on my Harley at a stop light and look around...faces illuminated by the gizmos they have propped below their window, in case cops are looking to.
I was once “merely” vigilant while riding.
Now I’m freaking paranoid.
It certainly cuts into the joy of it.