Wi fi is spreading like wildfire. It's turning up in TVs, fridges, alarm clocks, microwaves and printers. The benefits are obvious. But in a world that's becoming exponentially more connected, has it become impossible to turn ourselves off living in a world where everything is always on? Does the future of travel really lie in "Black-hole resorts," which, for a price, offer the chance to escape from modern-day convenienves like wifi and television?
This is the question that NYTimes columnist Pico Iyer posed recently. What's the value of slowing down? Is it a necessity or a privilege? And, even if one wants to slow down, how does one go about it?
"The central paradox of the machines that have made our lives so much brighter, quicker, longer and healthier is that they cannot teach us how to make the best use of them; the information revolution came without an instruction manual."
We're living in a world that's evolving so fast that no one takes the time to stop and figure out if we're doing this thing called living right. Just as the Internet and smart phones and countless other innovations make keeping in touch easier, they also cause us to spend less quality time with the people in our lives. Is the quantity vs. quality trade-off worth it? That's a personal decision. But there's no doubt that wasting time stuck in a technology loop isn't ideal. As Pinterest and Path and other new ways to keep in touch claim real estate on our iPhones and iPads, each touting its own unique benefits, are they helping to anwer questions or posing new ones? Have we figured out how many ways to keep in touch are too many? Doesn't seem like it. At least it's a fun ride. And at least we'll have black hole resorts to turn to when we become incapable of unplugging on our own.
Read the full NYTimes article here.
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