Hand Over Your Plastic
Thursday, August 6, 2009 by kwatt
Taking into consideration the line from Lady Gaga’s song Paparazzi: “We’re plastic, but we still have fun”, it is not hard to see that nowadays we are all essentially a little plastic, a little cyborgian. In a society where consumption is seen as a necessary means of survival, we are somewhat forced to become cybrogs. Take for example, the fact that a healthier lifestyle is seen as a key part of a happier life. It is not hard for marketing companies to mesh this need with technology in order to improve its consumption. This is what has been done with a new technology and the idea that people’s sleeping patterns are not adding to their healthy and happy lifestyle.
There is an article by David Pogue in the New York Times which is about the new Zeo alarm clock, a sleep monitoring type of headband with a device that looks like a digital watch attached to it. This headband is supposed to be worn when you go to bed so that it can monitor your brain waves and sleep patterns. Once the digital device from the headband is docked into the actual alarm clock (where it can also be charged), it shows a graph of the different states of sleep that you were in throughout the night. On myzeo.com it says that, “The optional SmartWake™ alarm feature will look for a "natural awakening point" based on your sleep patterns to decrease the grogginess associated with waking from Deep sleep. When SmartWake is selected, Zeo will find a time to wake you within a half-hour of your set time, never later.” But wait, there’s more! Not only do you have the option of waking up with less grogginess, but you can then take this information to myzeo.com with the adaptable USB (included) and get e-mails on how you can improve your sleeping patterns. The amount of money that it will cost you? Only US$400.
This new invention seems fantastic, but as David Pogue writes, this product is not really innovative. The advice that is given in the e-mails is the same advice that people should generally know. For example, don’t drink caffeine before you go to bed and don’t sleep with your dog, etc. He says that this is not an innovative technology, but that it is like a personal trainer. Or what he calls, part of the “Personal Trainer Phenomenon.” The idea is that people will change their lifestyles because they have gone through the effort of spending time and money on it, therefore taking it more seriously. In other words, he says that the Zeo alarm clock works better because of the psychology and not the science. It is interesting that people are willing to buy something like this to gain more information about something they most likely already know about. Also, that they are willing to become cyborgs through the use of something that will not necessarily make them happier. It does make me wonder though, how many other technologies are used for psychological reasons rather than their scientific? How “plastic” are we willing to become until we are finally having fun?