Has Technology Gone Too Far?

Has technology gone too far? Sure, I like to surf the web and send e-mail. I love that my coffee maker can be programmed to brew automatically in the morning while I'm hitting the snooze bar for the third time. I'm sure everyone can relate to having a movie or dinner interrupted by someone's annoying cell phone. On which the young woman seated at the table beside me answers her phone (which has as its ringer a touch - tone version of the William Tell Overture beeping away), "Hey.... no, you're not interrupting anything." Excuse me; I'm sitting less than two feet from you. Her urgent call continues, "stop letting him tell you what to do, you're not married, dump the loser."

I remember growing up watching TV shows like Star Trek and The Jetsons, among others. How neat it will be when the advancements from these shows become available. I guess all the cool things we were promised must still be in the development phase. Where are the flying cars or the "beam me up Scotty" technologies? Instead all we get are annoying gadgets that are supposed to make life easier, but only seem to complicate our already busy lives.

On a beautiful sunny afternoon while walking on the beach I came across a family, mom and dad in beach chairs, children building castles in the sand at their feet - a real Norman Rockwell moment. Wait a minute- as I walk and look a little closer they each have a notebook computer in their laps and are pounding away at the keys and their teenage son is sitting behind them with a Game Boy about six inches from his face. Have we become so dependent on these machines that we can't have one minute of peace without worrying about who can reach us electronically?

I invited a friend over to watch a football game on television. He came into the house with enough gadgets to make James Bond jealous. Strapped to his waist were a cell phone, pager, and a P D A (personal digital assistant). On his wrist he was wearing a watch with a G.P.S. (global positioning system)- I guess in case he gets lost here on the Shore, of which he's lived his whole life. He was also carrying a small case, which holds his laptop. I said to him, "Were watching a game, not launching the space shuttle!"

He replied, "I have to stay in touch." With whom, mission control? He looked like Batman with all that gear on his "utility belt."

Cell phones are fine if you're in a remote place without access to a landline, or a road emergency in a vehicle. Over 200 TV channels, microwave ovens, and personal computers all have their place in today's culture. Maybe I haven't advanced at the same pace as the technology. So what if my VCR is still flashing "12:00" like it has always done since I first plugged it in. I watch all my movies on DVD anyway.