THE KAPLINSKY REPORT

Hot Smart phone: HTC Hero Android G3 A6262 Smartphone Unlocked – International Version with No U.S. Warranty (White)

From tweet streams on Twitter to an endless list of “unknown” friends on facebook and Friendfeed, more and more, computer code by computer code, we are rapidly becoming prisoners of technology. From a personal point of view, I am reminded of the  recent sleepless nights I had, tossing and turning in the early hours of the morning, thinking about the latest smart phone - HTC’s Hero –  whose Teflon coated screen I was going to caress to death once I received my mobile phone upgrade.

And I’m not the only one with this fidgety technological disease; take a short ride on any inter-city bus or subway train and you’re bound to see a good sprinkling of people, both male and female, whose eyes are glued downwards – jerking from side to side on a game like Teeter – thumbing away at their tiny ipods, iPhones or Android gadgets. (Go to: Pocket Gamer)

Describing this 21st century technological culture as an addictive one person universe, with very little human interaction wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Yes, these wonderful gizmos are a step up from the previous generation of devices that wowed us in the 20th, but the price that society has to collectively pay now may too high. One only has to look at the iPhone suicide in China last month and the spate of Facebook divorces and breakups to know somethings wrong. (See: Don’t let facebook break up ur relationship)

The obvious question to ask in these circumstances is why do we spend so much time exploring those tiny screens as opposed to the larger aspects of life that crave our attention? Why have virtual 5inch playgrounds so effectively replaced the texture and expanse of green grass and the motion of playground swings so common in every neighbourhood back in the 70′s? The answer may come as a shock to many. Or may be not.

In the book ‘the singularity is near’, author and inventor Ray Kurzweil predicts a futuristic world where technologically enhanced humans possess endless life in an electronic environment that would make our present world Jurassic by comparison. Over the last millenia, our species has been on an endless quest to enhance, improve and if it were possible, to transcend the physical limitations and restrictions of our  fragile transcient biochemical existence. (Read: The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology)

The relentless technological progression we embrace so often to the detriment of personal relationships and societal links doesn’t fully convey its collective meaning from the perspective of one person or even a group of ipod/Android geeks. However, when seen as a  cluster activity – the  way we would view ants building a nest hill – or as a historical pyramid of invents, then we begin to grasp the direction we are headed with all our gadgets and technology that so seems to portray a picture of interpersonal isolation instead of our innate to desire to merge with fellows human in an environment that will permit its perpetuity.

The day is fast approaching when our species will shed the need to touch our fingers to smudge-free screen; for we will be able fully immerse our consciousness into the digital realm we so desperately crave to merge with. (Look at: Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies — and What It Means to Be Human)

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