With the burst of the new iOS and iPhones, I’m not entirely surprised at the mania revolving getting your hands on the latest and greatest. This is especially true in my career field, where you’re constantly expected to be on top of what the newest thing on the street is. I’m not hating on Apple by any means, because I’m an avid Apple user and will be loyal for many years to come. But the fact that people are literally standing in line today to be the first of their friends to get their greedy hands on the new iPhones just disgusts me. Whatever happened to the days of standing in line for the newest Harry Potter book? Those days aren’t that far behind us, but it seems like a lifetime ago. Technology is the newest devil to grab hold of us.
The iOS7 debuted this week and I’m pretty sure I’m probably one of the last people who hasn’t downloaded it yet. Even my baby boomer father already has. I just don’t see the urgent rush for it. There are many other things I’m more concerned about – the 13-person shooting in Chicago last night, the homeless man on the street that I pass everyday, the endless debate regarding Syria. And the world continues on, along with the never-ending lines outside every Apple store in America today.
What’s even worse than how much technology has affected us all, it’s how much technology has affected the children of the world. I came across this YouTube video that Mashable posted today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTpXVv-DaBQ. Watch it now, seriously.
Okay, so you’ve watched it. What are your thoughts? How pathetically sad is that a 4-year-old knows the difference between iOS6 and iOS7 and is expressing his disdain of the changes? These children are turning into menacing technological-dependent monsters. A few months ago, I was out to dinner and kept hearing annoying cartoon sounds. I perplexedly turned around to find where the sound was coming from. There it was. An iPad in the hands of a two or three year old, out to dinner with his parents. What happened to the days where a child had books or toys to play with at dinner, or simply, NOTHING? And just had to sit there?
Funny enough, I had asked my mom last night whether or not I was a happy baby, just out of curiosity. She told me I was most of the time, except it seemed that I’d get fussy and start to cry every time my parents sat down to eat. I wonder, if that time was fast-forwarded today, if my parents would just shove an iPad in my hands to shut me up. I hope not, at least. Now, I don’t want to judge the parents of today, especially when I am not a parent yet (and won’t be for another 5+ years), but it seems like more and more parents are allowing their kids to have iPads or iPhones to play with as a form of entertainment, so they’re not forced to watch them 24/7. Or it could be that excuse that they use it as a ‘learning tool.’ I’m not buying that crap. I didn’t have an iPad growing up and I learned from books and educational toys and I think I turned out just fine. It’s one thing when parents are genuine about using the technological tools for education, but it’s another when they use that as an excuse just so they don’t have to deal with their kids for a few hours.
I’m constantly wondering how the children of today are going to turn out as they get older. That generation is undoubtedly going to be more tied to technology than my own generation. I’ve already noticed ‘Millennials’ quickly losing the face-to-face interaction and the inability to hold a conversation with a stranger or afraid to meet new people because of the “social awkwardness.” What happens when literally everyone’s face is in smack-dab in front of a technological device?
As we ponder that alarming question, we’ll continue on in this technologically-crazed world.
Spoken Thoughts 