Today’s power word is: Power. My day today started a bit
later than usual, and I arrived at my office (barnes&noble bookstore) a bit
late. Of course I am the person who forgot to charge their computer over the
weekend and now at 16% battery I am suffering the consequences. All of the
outlets are in use. So as I sit here, watching my sad battery drain, I got to
thinking about power.
Growing up, a 90’s kid, the power of technology didn’t
really come into play that often. We didn’t have computers or cell phones. We
ran around like banshees terrorizing neighbors as a source of fun. We couldn’t
even imagine sitting in front of a screen and pressing buttons as a source of
entertainment. And then around ’95 the computer moved in with us. And for a
time we kids wanted nothing to do with it. We would still hand write all of our
papers and assignments, and when they needed to be typed, we would dictate them
to our mother who lovingly typed them out and proof-read.
The computer was weird. We would occasionally IM chat with
friends as a novelty but in reality it was just confusing. After the computer
moved in, cell phones for teenagers became a popular topic of conversation in
our house. My parents didn’t think we should have them because in reality we
shouldn’t be hanging out places without their knowledge, where there was no
house phone, and at a time where we would need to call and tell them we would
be late. But as we grew older, our skirts grew shorter, and Dateline got
scarier; they broke and on each of our 16th birthdays we received a
cell phone. But at that point in our lives technology still hadn’t tightened
its grip on us. We still preferred face-to-face interaction over
face-to-screen.
It wasn’t really until Blackberry’s became a staple in many
young professionals tool belts and Apple broke its first all-powerful i-Phone
that I feel technology really had a hold on our society. And I may be
completely off base, but in my life those two devices stick out as being the
beginning of techno-obsession. Technology’s thirst for power, so to speak, has
become a crutch for the socially awkward culture that is blossoming in the age
of hiding behind cell phones/iPads/nooks. Having a well-charged cell phone
before a night of partying so that you can look bored and unaffected all night
has become a staple for hipsters everywhere. Then you have the social media
junkies (myself included) who are constantly tweeting/tumbling/facebooking from
massive smart phones. And as soon as the battery dies, look out world, because
the most awkward class of people is forced to converse. A skill that they
really only developed until whatever age they acquired their first fancy piece
of technology at.
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