Even Gadget Lovers are Getting Tired of Electronics

Image by TechCocktail

Every year the world's largest tech show takes place in Las Vegas at about this time, where new gadgets and gizmos are displayed in ever-brighter booths, with flashier video panels and louder and louder music. Celebrities come to sell whatever gadget they've been paid to promote. And the world's media eats it up.

As one of the most-read gadget blogs, Gizmodo sends people to the event every year. This year, Mat Honan posted a stream-of-thought diatribe of the whole event.

And it is fantastic:

There is a hole in my heart dug deep by advertising and envy and a desire to see a thing that is new and different and beautiful. A place within me that is empty, and that I want to fill up. The hole makes me think electronics can help. And of course, they can.

They make the world easier and more enjoyable. They boost productivity and provide entertainment and information and sometimes even status. At least for a while. At least until they are obsolete. At least until they are garbage.

Electronics are our talismans that ward off the spiritual vacuum of modernity; gilt in Gorilla Glass and cadmium. And in them we find entertainment in lieu of happiness, and exchanges in lieu of actual connections.

Of course I'm not advocating that we move back to the stone age. But like many I've fallen into the trap of believing that technology can solve the emptiness that the modern sometimes delivers. Having just returned from Antarctica (more on that later!), I have a renewed view of the world and the importance of connections.

So enjoy your tech gadgets, one and all. But don't forget that true fulfillment usually lies elsewhere.

Comments

[Enviropassion]

This blog looks amazing Howie! I will definately be checking back often and look forward to future posts about Antarctica! Love, Laurissa