The Pursuit of Material Goods - in other words, why technology is a biting addiction - and a hard one to kick

I should say now, that I'm incredibly sorry for my lack of posts. Indeed, I got a message from Tashia who asked me to, quote "do more rants". I suppose, in a way this is a rant, but maybe on the other hand its more of a plea, or a revelation. I don't really know, all I do know is that I suddenly, and crazily had an idea and an urge to knock it down. So here it is: technology. I know what you're saying, that's a wide field, technology brings us joy, and wonder, and has brought science forward - well yes, it has. It has also sent us totally backwards. I should specify, the technology I'm talking about is that of the iPhone and BlackBerry craze (yes, lets be real, it is a craze).

So lets start with the iPhone. This revelation came to me about....35 hours or so, when I burst into violent tears and was a shaking mess because my phone wasn't responding (admittedly, it had been submerged in water, and possibly half an hour in a bowl of rice was pushing it in terms of recovery). I turned mildly neurotic and very angry in the space of five seconds, before my mum finally reminded me "it's just technology". Didn't matter though, as far as I was concerned, my life was over. The extension of my hand, was gone. I'm not kidding when people have said to me "are you okay?" when I haven't had my iPhone in my hand. I will admit hand on heart, that I have an addiction to my phone, and I never knew I had one. Of course, over the 34 hours that I've spent away from my phone, I've realised how much I do need it, and probably should treasure it more, but that's besides the point. The point it more, that I had such an extreme reaction, over a piece of technology that worries me. Even this morning, when I was freaking out about the fact that I couldn't get sound I hulked it up for a number of minutes. Those sort of reactions: not good.

I also think, the rise of the BlackBerry and iPhone craze is one that we could definitely have skipped. Five years ago, the demand for smartphones was non existent outside of working businesses. Now, certainly in cities, everyone has one, from 11 year old's to 50 year old's. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that people are tapping into technology at younger and older ages, no it's good, it's great that you can have independence through technology, and find your own way, but with the internet seeming increasingly dangerous, we must remember to plug out of our computers and our phones every now and then, and just be.

It's actually not that bad out there, in the real world. Yes, it's frustrating being packed out on a bus with 11 year olds, and not being able to sink into your music to block out the screeches, but it's also not going to kill you to have a day or so out from technology. What I actually found during my impromptu cold turkey, was I need my phone, but not for music, or for texting, but for the simple fact of, I need it to tell the time. Fun fact, you don't. It's called a wrist watch. If I had remembered to put that on in the morning before bolting out of the door, I don't think I'd need my iPhone at all, and I found it strangely calming to sit on the bus and just read, totally absorbed by the book.

So I suppose, this post is a small reminder. The virtual world is fab. But real life is ticking by, and sometimes, sometimes people need to remember that life doesn't stop when your phone does. And by people, I don't just mean myself.