Why I hate Technology
Two days ago, a game called Grand Theft Auto 4 came out. Now, I don't usually go insane over video games. I mean I will wait in the occasional line but it takes about a day after its release for me to say, "Oh well, I don't need it." Two days have passed and this feeling still has not kicked in. I now look to my predicament. Two days prior to the release of GTA4, I was watching a movie on my Xbox 360. I finished the movie and turned off my Xbox and went to bed. The next morning I turned on my console and to my delight I found a blinking red light. I look online for its meaning which I already knew because just one year prior the same exact thing happened to me resulting in a brand "new and improved" Xbox360. I tried many different things including the putting a towel over it. So now I sit, sounding spoiled, with no Grand Theft Auto. I read the reviews; "Best video game ever." or "You need to play this one." and then hear the same from my friends. I cry a little bit inside. Deep down though, I feel I am crying for another reason.
I can't really think of a piece of technology that has lasted me successfully for more than years. I have had numerous Gameboys, iPods, and computers. They all seem to hit the magic four year mark and then stop working as they should. Do I blame technology or do I blame the manufacturers? Cheap parts and cheap labor = cheap products. How much of our technology is dictated by the way it is produced? Could we be leaps and bounds ahead of ourselves if CEOs needed 1 less million dollar bonus. It is often interesting to see the cost of parts and then see the markup we have to at the store. If they can make a 100 dollar laptop with wifi and a its own network interface why can't we have 25 dollar iPods?
This is why I hate technology. It is dictated by money. Technology is often created in the spirit of exploration. Whether that is making something we do easier or coming up with a brand new way, technology helps us move forward. It just makes me sad to think that if the dollar sign was gone, where would we be? If these items were distributed in the spirit by which they were created, would the world as a whole be a better place. I may be thinking a bit too idealistically but why not. I am not asking for free everything but just get us out of the rip off zone.
Microsoft sent me its packaging (still under warranty, lucky) and now I wait for it to come back and as I finish this post, I don't think I care if it ever does.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Why I hate Technology.
TrackBack URL for this entry: https://blogs.psu.edu/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/8577
Leave a comment