I've been doing some research on SMS related tech lately. So in the course of doing so, I stumbled upon a site about the many different ways SMS tech is being used these days. It will amaze you just how many ways it can be used now. People do their banking with SMS. Get up-to-date traffic info. Book tix to see a concert. Break up with a bf/gf that's weighing them down. Vote. Donate. Get the latest news.
The list is endless. See for yourself at this website.
I suppose the less I know about the widespread of such things, the better I'll be.
Because as much as I'd agree to using and encouraging the use of modern technology, there are times where it's almost like I'm pining for the old days again.
You see, with the accessibility of all forms of wireless technology, it has eliminated the need for more direct human contact. What happened to lining up in queue to wait your turn to buy tickets? Going over to someone's house to discuss the details of an ongoing project you are working on together? Calling someone just to say you miss them?
These days, it's a mere quick kungfu of finger movements on the mobile phone keypad (or the PC's keyboard.. or PDA... what have you), a few extra button presses/clicks to locate the SEND command and then you've said your piece.
And so the recipient gets a very dead line of text saying "I love you so much." Only for that very same person to find out months later that perhaps the love wasn't as true as the words read. But it's virtual reality after all, ain't it?
How it deadens the human soul of emotion and interaction.
Sometimes though, I must say, it does have its benefits. You can agree to converse with a particularly repulsive character on... let's say, online instant messaging, without having to actually meet them. Thereby inducing a notion of care where there really is a lack. But as twisted as that sounds, sometimes, just sometimes, such measures are indeed necessary (aren't they?).
The use of these technologies does save time and effort in getting a message across to someone, especially when they're far off and it's too difficult for you to find means to meet face-to-face to utter a few one or two liners and wait for a response. And a phone call would be out of the question due to exorbitant call rates. And the person you're looking for is too busy and is constantly on the move anyway. Why disturb them unnecessarily? Just send a little messsage, and they can read it in their own time.
Furthermore, if you resorted to sending an IM or SMS, you could very well be checking your e-mail, or clocking in much needed hours for office/school work, while waiting for a response from the other party. Hence, more gets accomplished in the same amount of time.
But therein lies the problem of distractedness. We're so used to multi-tasking that it's too hard and too trying on us to just sit down and focus on one thing only. Wait a tad too long, endure too deadly a silence, and our minds get agitated for lack of activity, and our bodies get fidgety, yearning for something to occupy us. Entertain us. Why should there be dull moments in a person's life anyway? Hence the need to fill up our lives with all sorts of indirect, state-of-the-art technology. Keeps us alive, it seems.
I am not denying the benefits of technology, really. Only lamenting the decay of the true connectivity of human souls. When was the last time you said more words in a day than you did type? (And by that, I mean to those who matter most).
I still treasure a handwritten, posted letter or a telephone call or tea with a friend much more than mere SMS or any other similar forms of communication. Anyone who wishes to offer anything less to me proves by their sheer deeds how little fondness they attach to me. A high demand for today's folks. I'd say. But who needs company anyway?
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