Are we TOO connected?

We are the Robots

Let me tell you where I’m coming from before I get into this.

I discovered the interwebs in 1995. I remember distinctly, that I was in the library in High School and I found out what IRC was. Not having a modem at home and spending hours playing Doom on my Packard Bell, realizing that I could combine being a nyerd with being social. Not something nyerds tend to want to do, unless we’re talking about roleplaying games, or robots, or roleplaying game playing robots.

Ever since then, it shaped my career path. Being creative, I discovered graphic design, then web design, now usability and UI design. Needless to say ever since i went online back then, I was into it. To say the least. Put a shiny computer monitor in front of my face with colors and moving pictures and I don’t need food, water, or anything else. Sad but true.

So I find it surprising, that I just am NOW coming to the realization that I think with the permeation of technology and the internet in our phones, laptops, cars, GPSs, Refridgerators, etc. I feel like we’re TOO connected. This suprises me because I’m the first one to drink to social networking Kool-Aid, using Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, LiveJournal, and on and on and on.

It would be one thing if we were all connected and we were able to still have real conversations with real people. But I find myself unable really to do that. And it was one thing when it was just me, but now I see it in a lot of people.

It’s especially bad nowadays with texting, xbox, facebook, twitter and the like…

Don’t get me wrong. I use all of these. But maybe it’s not such a bad thing to NOT be connected every once in awhile.

My wife said it like this… “Am I REALLY that important to tell everyone that I am making dinner or taking out the trash and then going to go to bed?”

The answer is no. I am not.

And another thing. Do any of you really care?

Will we get to the point where we talk through status updates and have nothing to say to each other if we run into each other on the street? I think that we very well could.

So I think I’m going to turn everything off every once in awhile and go for a walk in the park with the Mrs. No phone, no TV, no computer. Just me and her and the trees.