Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

Have you ever taken the time to contemplate just how dependent we’ve become on technology as part of our everyday lives? Think about if just for a moment and you’ll quickly realize that what we have available to us today in the form of technological advances is an endless cesspool of so-called necessities, many of which most of us couldn’t imagine living without. Our way of life in the 21st Century consists of being constantly surrounded by a myriad of technologically-advanced gizmos and gadgets aimed at simplifying our everyday lives. We have microwave ovens capable of cooking our food in a matter of seconds and minutes, computers and the Internet which keep us in touch with the rest of the world, cellular telephones which can take photos and send text messages to our friends and loved ones, automobiles which speak to us and provide us with directions, as well as high definition televisions, satellite radios, MP3 players, Blackberries, IPOD’s, and other sophisticated audio equipment, including video game systems, to entertain us. We have airplanes, boats, trains and automobiles to get us from Point A to Point B, electricity to provide us with light in an otherwise dark night environment, natural gas to offer us comforting heat on the long, cold winter evenings, and medicinal cures to combat most of our ailments. It blows me away to witness the strides being made with communication technology, which has quickly evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry thanks to the insatiable appetite for technological improvements by mankind. Shopping for these high-tech gizmos and gadgets isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Many of us remain convinced that every computer manufacturer “geek” out there has joined forces as part of a diabolical plot to confuse the hell out of each and every user who willingly chooses to become the proud, yet disgruntled owner of these modern day must haves. They’ve achieved this by inundating each of us as consumers with copious amounts of high-tech computer terms and jargon which leave many of us dependent communication junkies with that deer in the headlights look. The words “All New” are nothing to get excited about as consumer. It simply means that the parts are not inter-changeable with previous design you spent a mint on last year. Beware of these common terms: unmatched quality (almost as good as the competition), designed simplicity (manufacturer has cut costs to the bone), foolproof operation (no provision for adjustments), maintenance-free (impossible to fix), and the most famous of all…. meets all standards (which means theirs, not yours). Keep in mind that a computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want to do. Just ask my wife, who admits to being anything but knowledgeable when it comes to computers. She’s maintained the belief over the years that for every action to be carried out on a computer, there is an equal and opposite reaction, usually in the form of a malfunction of disastrous proportions. Do the words “your system has just recovered from a fatal error” ring a bell? The truth of the matter involving computers is that they have become complex, rip-your-hair-out systems, and once you’ve figured them out they’re probably obsolete. It’s no wonder why the number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions. I often wonder whether our insatiable appetite for all these material possessions have led many of us to lose sight of what’s really important in each our lives… our families, friends and our health. It really makes you appreciate just how simple and uncomplicated life must have been in the good old horse and buggy days!

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