Wednesday 2 March 2011

Technology Overdrive


On Thursday I was on my laptop and managed to catch a virus. My computer literally started imploding and as you can imagine it was pretty distressing. Thankfully, the computer guy managed to remove it and nothing on my computer was damaged.


It got me thinking how reliant I, (and probably most people) have become on technology. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my phone, which includes checking my e-mails, facebook, twitter etc. Once I switch on my laptop my blog and Flickr are added to that list too. If I ever leave my phone at home by mistake I feel completely disconnected from everything. Sometimes the thought of how many different means of communication there are now is overwhelming (and yes, I appreciate the irony - I am using my online blog to write about this). When I was a child I used to write letters, yes LETTERS to my cousins abroad and I still have them all in my memory box. Now, I don't remember the last time I wrote a letter to someone! E-mails and Facebook messages seem so impersonal and fleeting in comparison.


I will always remember this quote by Drew Barrymore in the movie 'He's Just Not That Into You'. She is waiting for a guy she likes to get in touch with her...

"  I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting".


 What she says is so true! Whilst I could never live without my technology anymore, I can't help wondering what it was like when people didn't freak out because a virus is destroying their laptop because laptops simply didn't exist?

3 comments:

  1. I think about this so much! I am so sick of facebook, but when inviting people to my birthday I realised how few numbers I have now and how reliant on it I actually am.. *sigh*
    Then again, I asked a lady at work (she's 75) what they did before tv and she said 'listen to the radio'.

    Also glad your computer is fixed!!

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  2. oh this is so true! i actually have a huge, irrational fear of the phone, so i never ever use it. i do love email and blogging, however, and i'm pretty much on those two things all day long. i definitely remember the days before anyone had computers in their homes (i actually learned to type on a typewriter!), but now it seems like such an integral part of everyone's lives. i actually taught a class once, when i was working as a therapist in a school, on how to have real life relationships, because the kids spent all their time communicating through technology. it's a crazy world out there these days... still, i'm glad your computer is okay!

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