i(need)pod
My ipod was stolen approximately 2 weeks ago and I am just now noticing that a general malaise has been creeping into my life in the absence of this music emitting device. At first, this realization frightened me - am I really that dependent on an stupid electronic machine? Can I not “quit my ipod cold turkey?” (note the Al-Anon vocabulary…my subconscious propensity to use it in this situation is Exhibit 1a for my later observations) We are constantly told (by psychologists and ‘concerned adults’…mainly via the TV, ironically enough) that dependence on electronics (cell phones, TVs, computers, blackberries, ipods, iphones, GPSs, calculator watches, etc) is a terrible thing and that such ‘addictions’ are a sign of weakness, that we have somehow ceded our souls to a gilded Silicon Calf. I just don’t think that is true. Specifically in the case of me and my ipod, I believe it to be a benevolent relationship, as it brings music into my life in situations where music would otherwise not be available to me. Sure it sometime prevents me from experiencing the sounds of the world around me (screeching of subway brakes, sneezing homeless men, other people’s ipods at volume 11, dirty water dog vendors playing the drums with their tongs, etc) on my commute to and from work, but I truly believe that a gadget that brings music into my life is of great benefit to my psychological and spiritual well-being.
Has commercial technology (recreational, data-transmitting technology as opposed to transportation/architectural/medical technology) always been viewed as an affront on our souls? Were people this threatened by phonographs, color TVs, and VCRs as to diagnose their overuse? Or is our current Code Red paranoia against ‘technology addiction’ a product of years of inching closer to the ‘Mark of the Beast’ where technology will no longer be a peripheral to our bodies but rather embedded under our skin?
All I want is a device roughly the size of a deck of cards that can allow me to listen to Alanis Morisette on my way to work, is that so wrong?