Too many times I recall witnessing all my younger cousins crammed in a dark room, all 8 pairs of eyes focused on the computer or television screen, taking turns expertly fighting off imaginary monsters of some sort, trying to rescue the beautiful maiden to bring her back to her castle, the king waiting with a generous reward for the brave hero who will bring his precious daughter home. However, as their tiny fingers fly across a joystick, these kids do not realize that outside that room, beyond that fantasy they are so absorbed in, even more breathtaking wonders await them. As they wait eagerly, anticipating for their chance to play, things they could be learning and experiencing are passing them by.

Over the years, our society’s dependency on technology has unquestionably increased. Sure, it makes life a hell of a lot easier, having connection to the internet, and unlimited access to the world with just the click of a button. Before you start agreeing with me how brilliant technology is, look around for a minute. Everywhere you go, I’m sure you’ve observed teenagers chatting animatedly into their cell phones, lost tourists frantically referring to their GPS system, hectic businessmen clutching their laptops in one hand, a coffee cup in another. Just the other day, I a overheard a woman irritably complaining loudly about how preposterous it was, this meal took a whole 4 minutes to heat up in the microwave! Her friends agreed with her dutifully. “Who has time for this? It’s absurd, why won’t they invent something that is ready in 1 minute or something?”

It’s not hard to envision the day where people grumble that one minute is too lengthy of a wait for a meal to be ready. Technology is so extremely fundamental and important for the majority of us, we’ll be astray without it. However, do we really need a machine that toasts cute animals onto bread? Is a machine where people imitate jumping rope necessary when there is a perfectly fine jump rope put away in the corner? It’s understandable for parents to resort to hand held games to keep mischievous, energetic children entertained and busy. Nevertheless, it is a bit disheartening to imagine the future as technology enhances continuously, altering the way we live our daily life. I might sound a bit hypocritical, I admit it, since I am typing this rant on my laptop while listening to my iPod, however, you get my point.