Gadgets: Being the Caveman with the Biggest Club

There is no doubt that technology has a hold on us like never before. When a new smart phone comes out, I feel like a dog watching a chicken rotisserie, I am following it with my eyes. I want it, I need it, I have to have it! Sometimes people tell me that he or she will wait six months until the latest technology is cheaper and I think to myself, “No, no, no, how can they wait? Don’t they need to know now?” The answer is no; technology just makes us think we do.

It’s comparable to having the biggest cave in Neanderthal times, or catching the biggest mammoth. Bigger and better get the ladies. But do ladies go for technology? I guess there is something kind of sexy about walking into someone’s place and seeing a flat screen on his or her wall. Remember when the iPhone came out? If you were a dude or a lady into ladies with an iPhone, girls everywhere had their mouths watering. It’s like being Paul Pierce during the finals.

But while it is cool to sport the newest gadget to improve upon your overall mate-worthy package, there are definitely huge turn offs associated with overuse. Have you ever met someone that was obsessively checking a cell phone? You could not even have a conversation without them checking their texts to see if anyone with a greater social status wanted their attention. My general rule is, unless you know someone really well, don’t check your phone at a restaurant. Guys who check their cells too much are like men who carry purses. Or, excuse me, “carryalls.” It feels like they might spend too much time thinking about themselves, or that something isn’t quite right with their “ego.”

On the other hand, technology is connecting us into a “global village” like we have never seen before. Internet dating is bringing people together that would have never met otherwise. In our career-driven society, sometimes it isn’t that someone doesn’t have social skills; it is more that they don’t have time to meet the right person, or their career doesn’t allow them to. Of course there are Internet predators and online scams, but let’s face it. People have always been scamming one another. And even before the Internet, there were monsters. Like anything else, we need to be mindful of our money and our nation's youth.

Lastly, the Internet helps quite a few people to feel a little less lonely. Those suffering from illness, people who feel like no one understands them, the Internet serves as a refuge. Support groups and fan pages, in the end what each of us is looking for is to be a part of something and to feel like we have a place to express our thoughts where they can be appreciated.

There is nothing we can do about the growth of technology, and hopefully the barrage of emails people receive every day will only help to reinforce the tenderness and thought of a hand-written letter. Factory-made foods have led us to appreciate farmer’s markets. SUV’s are helping people to love bicycles again. And the growth of technology might remind of us of the beauty of just being next to someone you care about.