Today I went to the Apple store on Michigan Avenue to take a Mac applications tutorial on Garage Band. I got there early and sat in on the App Store Workshop which claims to help a user "harness the power of the App Store, where you can browse an incredible array of applications specifically designed for your iPhone or iPod touch."
Now, I just recently found out from a friend of mine that "People are addicted to these applications, Liz!"
Well, that was news to me. But, I continued moving along in my life, on a bus, on a train, on a bicycle, even stationary in coffee shops, NOT noticing the obsession my friend had clued me in on.
That is...
until I went to the Apple Store today.
Parked right next to me in the Apple theater were the fanatical gadget junkies my friend had told me about.
The instructor preached to the choir as he revealed the application features of a plethora of coma-inducing, mind-numbing computer games such as Air Traffic Controller. In this game, a user spots an airplane flying around on the screen and then uses his/her finger to draw a curve from the plane to the landing strip. That's it! That's the whole game!
The junkies LOVED Air Traffic Control (I waited for someone to call it ATC - didn't happen). The instructor showed several other applications ad nauseam, each one more stupefying than the next.
The audience asked, "What applications are on deck for next month?" praying to Jobs that he would send them something equally if not more catatonic-stupor-inducing than their beloved Air Traffic Controller.
Now, I don't believe these People to be stupid. I do believe they prefer to spend their free time anesthetizing their minds as much as possible.
I understand there's a time and place for these things (like when you're stuck in an elevator?), and I'm not saying that everything in life has to be about learning. I advocate recreation and relaxation just as much as intellectual stimulation, but Air Traffic Controller is NONE of these things.
I believe that a man exists for his own sake. Or, rather, that it is morally right to do so, if he so chooses. But every action has a consequence. If you practice a form of escapism, at some point, you must confront that from which you escape.
If you wear an iPod while out and about, you escape conversation with your neighbors. If you stare at an application, you escape whatever you want, whenever you want.
I believe this growing trend of chronic escapism will result in grave consequences to our social, emotional, and political lives. That's just something I believe. And sometimes, beliefs are hard to manage when you are a libertarian. I can only go so far in action with my belief, even if I believe I see a catastrophe up ahead, because I could be completely wrong, and because I have no right to force my beliefs on someone else. BUT...
I can persuade all I want.
People who seek to free others from the group-think that has taken over our Country walk a fine line between doing their fellow Countrymen a favor, and treading on his freedom to live as sees fit.
I waver like a candlelite on the windowpane of my moral obligation. I feel a burning desire to tear the iPod buds from the junkie's ears, to steal away the computer from the addict's hands, to slap the robot out of the dummy. At the same time, I refuse to incinerate the will that is one's own, to burn into ash the the choices that belong to another, to celebrate the conflagration that ignites and bolsters my will over my brothers'.
It's hard out here for a libertarian.
I can see no place to draw the line. That's why I don't draw lines.
I certainly don't draw curves to landing strips on iPhones, either.
Now, I just recently found out from a friend of mine that "People are addicted to these applications, Liz!"
Well, that was news to me. But, I continued moving along in my life, on a bus, on a train, on a bicycle, even stationary in coffee shops, NOT noticing the obsession my friend had clued me in on.
That is...
until I went to the Apple Store today.
Parked right next to me in the Apple theater were the fanatical gadget junkies my friend had told me about.
The instructor preached to the choir as he revealed the application features of a plethora of coma-inducing, mind-numbing computer games such as Air Traffic Controller. In this game, a user spots an airplane flying around on the screen and then uses his/her finger to draw a curve from the plane to the landing strip. That's it! That's the whole game!
The junkies LOVED Air Traffic Control (I waited for someone to call it ATC - didn't happen). The instructor showed several other applications ad nauseam, each one more stupefying than the next.
The audience asked, "What applications are on deck for next month?" praying to Jobs that he would send them something equally if not more catatonic-stupor-inducing than their beloved Air Traffic Controller.
Now, I don't believe these People to be stupid. I do believe they prefer to spend their free time anesthetizing their minds as much as possible.
I understand there's a time and place for these things (like when you're stuck in an elevator?), and I'm not saying that everything in life has to be about learning. I advocate recreation and relaxation just as much as intellectual stimulation, but Air Traffic Controller is NONE of these things.
I believe that a man exists for his own sake. Or, rather, that it is morally right to do so, if he so chooses. But every action has a consequence. If you practice a form of escapism, at some point, you must confront that from which you escape.
If you wear an iPod while out and about, you escape conversation with your neighbors. If you stare at an application, you escape whatever you want, whenever you want.
I believe this growing trend of chronic escapism will result in grave consequences to our social, emotional, and political lives. That's just something I believe. And sometimes, beliefs are hard to manage when you are a libertarian. I can only go so far in action with my belief, even if I believe I see a catastrophe up ahead, because I could be completely wrong, and because I have no right to force my beliefs on someone else. BUT...
I can persuade all I want.
People who seek to free others from the group-think that has taken over our Country walk a fine line between doing their fellow Countrymen a favor, and treading on his freedom to live as sees fit.
I waver like a candlelite on the windowpane of my moral obligation. I feel a burning desire to tear the iPod buds from the junkie's ears, to steal away the computer from the addict's hands, to slap the robot out of the dummy. At the same time, I refuse to incinerate the will that is one's own, to burn into ash the the choices that belong to another, to celebrate the conflagration that ignites and bolsters my will over my brothers'.
It's hard out here for a libertarian.
I can see no place to draw the line. That's why I don't draw lines.
I certainly don't draw curves to landing strips on iPhones, either.
Where in the small print does it say that you can't pass moral judgements? Libertarian is about laws not judgements. Feel guilt free and smack whoever you see fit- besides fence sitting isn't a very bold place for former citizens.
You are absolutely right, M. Believe you me, I have an opinion on these folks, but I stop short of slapping them...or at least, I have so far.
Best to be cranky and let the chips fall where they may- hone that saber and take a deep cut. Otherwise you qualify yourself to sleep.