Youth 'cannot live' without web
Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Technoculture and New Media
A (UK) survey of 16 to 24 year olds has found that 75% of them feel they "couldn't live" without the internet.
Read the story on the BBC here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8305731.stm
Read the story on the BBC here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8305731.stm
The truth in that statement is frightneingly true. But it's not just the internet and it's not just children.
The world over has become dependant on technology to function at all.
I caught myself watching an episode of Buck Rogers, an old TV show about a 20th century man fighting crime in the 25th century. The set up in this particular episode featured our hero Buck at a space age casino. There he was stunning the crowd by winning repeatedly. When one blonde bimbo asked him how he managed it, he simple said it was a matter of counting cards. The crowd were stunned that Buck had the ability to perform such a taxing act as counting without the aid of any machine.
To contemporary auidences this would have been funny. Perhaps even a little true of some adults who would have indulged themselves by using a calculator more than they should.
I however, found the scene fairly accurate of the current situation and therefore, scarily prophetic.
This post certainly is evidence of Buck's fantasy world becoming modern reality. If that's not enough for you I offer a few more examples of similar cases I have come across. Oprah Winfry recently held a challenge to get families together by removing all technology for a week. Needless to say, the two families featured struggled enormously and one of the mothers, the woman who volunteered her family for the experiment, cheated only a couple of days in. You can see it here: www.examiner.com/x-10201-Oprah-Examiner~y2009m5d21-Oprah-inspires-families-to-take-the-what-can-you-live-without-challenge
There's now even evidence being thown about by a number of sources that such a condition as mobile phone addiction exists!
This article, while scary to someone like me is all too true. That sixites Buck Rogers fantasy has just become reality.