During my childhood computers were so slow that it really wasn’t worth using them at all, iPhones did not exist, cellphones were ugly and thick, and things like the GameCube dominated over all gaming consoles. Most work was completed without the use of technology (and thus coming from that time, it surprises me how dependent we are of technology now). However, I was surrounded by many technological necessities such as cars, electrical appliances at home, and telephones. Most of the stuff we have today was either limited to the people with deep pockets or dreamed up in sci-fi movies. To be honest, I think we were pretty well off in that time. It’s sad how technology today is slowly grounding our brains into mush (though it’s ironic how I’m saying this, but I’m sitting at a computer right now to type this).
However, nowadays there are far more positive aspects of our expanding technological capabilities. The lesser people use it in poor ways, while the better people use it to move forward. I guess it really depends on who’s using it. In my opinion, technology is becoming like a drug for people. Even for me. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent sitting in front of my laptop. I use it for everything. Homework, recreation, music, research, you name it. That’s how I spend my free time. That’s how I spend my weekends. If a friend calls and asks me to spend time with her, I often find myself reluctantly closing the lid of my laptop. If my parents ask me for a favor, I have to pause the youtube video I’m watching. Now the words “You can’t go on the computer until you’ve finished your homework” have changed to “I can’t finish my homework if I can’t get on the computer”. How did that happen? Everywhere I look, there’s a plethora of technological booms around. It’s all we think about. For months, my father’s been obsessing over the iPhone 5, wondering which color and which plan we should get. And I still can’t understand how the Xbox Kinect can capture your motions and input them accurately into a video game. Where did the controllers go? For me, I’m still a GameCube person. It’s not so easy getting over something so close, especially if it’s grown up with you. But younger people (look at me, saying ‘younger people’ like I’m old or something) won’t ever understand the true value of the old classics. They’ll just look up occasionally from their iPads or iPhones to feign appreciation or gush about how crap games like Call of Duty and Battlefield are the best thing since sliced bread while they overlook the real games like Nintendo (but I can’t extend my compassion as far as to the Wii). My cousin’s daughter isn’t even 4 years old yet and already has a cellphone, an iPad, and an Android. When I was her age, I had coloring books!
I’m not sure what we have in store for the future. I’m a little nervous about it, though. And I’m worried about what society will be like when I’m old. My generation will probably be the last who has lived through the days when we appreciated much more than how many Twitter followers we had or whether so-and-so’s Facebook status has changed to single yet (ha, ‘Facebook’ is an official word, according to Word). All I know is that we’re going to have some really amazing things like an self-driving car or the cure for all cancers, and also have some useless things that will just eat away at people’s brains even faster, like a ‘holographic friend’ or something just as sad.

About the Pineapple.