Technology, Gadgets - Overuse in our life - my take

Photo byPhoto by Héctor Martínez on UnsplashonUnsplash

This is just my interpretation of how tech and gadgets have started ruling our lives.

                        The use of technology or gadgets in our lives is nothing new. Let me start with the fact that I am as guilty as anyone in this regard. We have become so over-dependent on our gadgets that we don’t have time for each other. Any new gadget introduced in the market leads to the itch to buy it. It could be a new tablet or a new phone depending on which ecosystem you are part of. Apple and Android being the dominant ones also lead to strong preferences for each by users. Each user gives their argument for the benefits of their ecosystems. It could be ease of use to the flexibility it provides. As disposable incomes increase it further increases the gadget refresh cycle for the family.

For apple users, apple events are something that has become a cult. Kind of a gateway for buying new devices. The first category of users is the people who must buy the latest as soon as it is launched. They have the iPhone 14(it's an Apple product) but must buy one when the 15 is introduced in the market. The second type is of those people who go with the plan discounts. They buy the new phone once the monthly installment of their phone is complete. They may have an iPhone 12 in perfect condition but must buy the new one just because they can with a limited value they have to spend. I fall in this second category. I don’t want to fork out all those dollars for a new gadget but am willing to get one with the minimum extra cash going out for it. Generally enabled through the plan of my carrier who provide discounts on the phones. Not that I need to but I want to. We have become dependent on our wants instead of our needs.

I have all the gadgets at home sometimes even twice the number of things I need. Right from a mac to an iPad to an iPhone(Apple products) to an apple watch I have them all. I put on my Apple watch rarely now given the life of the battery and due to me working from home after COVID struck. Will I buy the new apple watch probably, not that I have any need for it but I don't have anything else to buy for now. My phone is still in the monthly installments so must wait. My mac(Apple product) is relatively new so don’t want to spend on it. My iPad(Apple product) is working fine, yes, I can buy another one but that too I rarely use.

Why is there an addiction to new gadgets especially for men? My theory is that men have very few outlets for spending.  Women for example can do their nails, buy jewelry, and buy new purses. Many more things I guess but for a man, not into drinking or smoking, what are the avenues for spending money? gadgets are the obvious answer. I can’t think of any other reason for it.

Our dependence on gadgets has reached scary proportions, compounded by the addition of new apps every day. Is there a new message in WhatsApp(A Facebook app)? Are there any emails in my inbox? I see none but still must pull it down to refresh it just in case I may be missing that inconsequential message which may pop up anytime. I must use my phone before bedtime, till I feel sleepy and put it down, sometimes falling asleep in the process. This is primarily because we are now, not wanting to be bored, time pass is important at every moment to the point that we start killing time. I have seen people take their phones inside bathrooms and use them while doing their stuff. At least I haven’t gotten into that habit yet. The time inside the bathroom increases proportionally to the addiction we have. A simple daily routine has been interrupted and enhanced by the introduction of these gadgets. We don’t think about the germs that may be getting into that phone but time pass is important. Those 15 - 20 mins also we cannot spare for things so mundane.

Now we have gone to the second level where we have made our children also dependent on these gadgets. This is a scarier fact. When they are growing, we put a cartoon on TV so that they are distracted and watch while we can be in our app refresh world. Later we buy them their own gadgets so that they transition properly into this addiction. My kids too have all the gadgets and it all started with the cartoon thing I outlined earlier. My daughter was a picky eater, so the cartoon was when she would watch and we could stuff a spoonful of food inside her mouth. She soon transitioned from those cartoons to movies, serials, texting, and apps. The reasons could be many but the outcome is the same, tech addiction. Now the situation is that we are all in our gadgets when we are sitting in the living room. It could be Instagram for kids and WhatsApp (A Facebook app) messages for adults.  It has gone to the level that there are certain apps that are not cool enough for kids WhatsApp is one of them they are into Instagram and other apps not used by adults.

At other times when we are not sitting as a family we are in our rooms. The kids have taken it to the next level too. They close their rooms and are inside it playing video games or whatever they need to do on those phones. If I go to my kid's room and leave the door open by mistake, I get a shout back to close the door on my way back. When I think of my childhood, I can’t think of a time I was in my room or even inside my home we were always outside playing. Maybe our mental health was a little better due to it. Now, this tech addiction is leading to a whole new crisis of mental health. Small kids are having anxiety and depression. There have been numerous studies on the effects of the overuse of gadgets on this crisis so I won't go into it at this time. 

Tech gadgets have also increased misuse by other people. Let me explain what I mean by this. Take the phone for example. I receive more spam calls than I receive actual calls. These spam calls have become such a nuisance that I don’t pick up any call which I don’t recognize. I am sure I may be missing some important calls in the process but I can’t go through those car warranty expiry reminders to getting calls from IRS (www.irs.gov) for being delinquent on my taxes. Yes, I have got one too. 

I was in the middle of some work, out of the station in the client's office, so engrossed that I could not think clearly at the time I got it. Someone called me stating they are calling from the police department as I had unpaid taxes in my account. If I don’t pay them, they will send the police to my home. When I got the call, I was surprised and panicked about why the police officer was calling me. I asked for time but they would not budge but gave me 15 min to call them back, giving me an actual number to call them on. I sat down and thought for a min. I had paid my taxes properly there was no reason for this call what should I do? I decided to check with the IRS(www.irs.gov). I went to their website got a number and called them. The agent told me that these were fraudulent calls and my taxes were fine, there was nothing due, advising me to inform the police. I asked my wife to call the police and inform them about the call as it was supposed to be a state subject, I was in a different state at that time. The police too stated their inability to deal with such calls as they were spam and were all done to coax people into sending money to them. Imagine the potential for harm that is there and causes many people to fall for such scams.

The next thing in this tech addiction is the increase of AI in our lives. I am all for use of technology for the benefit of society and how things can be done for the betterment of people. The problem comes when this becomes the next thing in line for our addiction. Every other day I get emails about my user id and passwords being part of the data being sold on the dark web, spamming ads based on your browsing to chatbots which are the new thing now. As if we did not have enough of our me time we need another source for talking with ourselves. People-to-people interactions are going down to such levels that we are becoming a reclusive society. How many times are you excited when someone pops into your home? The reason for that could be as those people are taking you away from the most important thing in your life currently, your gadgets, and that so-called refreshed message which has not come in yet in your phone app. The point is that we need to do something about it as a society and we can't wait for others to do it, we must make that first effort in getting some normalcy back in our lives. Boredom is important, we need to get back to that state of getting bored as that is the only time when your mind is at rest which it needs desperately. Let's strive again for that bo

red society. Boredom is good.