Coming together as a society, we have advanced technology in a myriad of
different ways, ways such as advancing communication with the creation
of cell phones, enhancing transportation by building more fuel efficient
cars, and even forms of entertainment such as the Playstation or the
Xbox. However, one advancement that has the world gnawing at their
fingertips is the enhancements of the Apple industry; also known to all
as the popular iPhone. This further emphasizes the question, does the
Apple industry play a role in humans attachment to machines and
technology? Although humans are the creators of technology and have made
technology rather helpful in many ways, technology has only made
society more dependent on technology. The techno world, such as the
iWorld, has only made people lazier and have learned to adapt to
technology for new and advanced ways of moving forward, thus emphasizing
how machines have become the equivalent of man itself.
The demand
for Apple products has increased dramatically ever since the beginning
of Apple’s existence. In Andrew Sullivan’s “Society is Dead, We Have
Retreated into the iWorld,” the author believes that society has, in
fact, been persuaded to follow technology’s state of mind and live in
accordance to the so called “iWorld;” a place where humans are so
influential that having Apple products is the new norm in society. When
Sullivan visited New York City, he noticed
something new about the city. He recalled, “But daylife ─ that insane
mishmash of yells, chatter, clatter, hustle and chutzpah that makes New
York the urban equivalent of methamphetamine ─ was also a little
different. It was quieter.” This new quieter sense of feeling in New
York City was by far more different than what it used to; a rampant,
loud, and abrupt city that never sleeps. With the evolution of iPhones
and Apple products, however, Sullivan noticed that most of the
pedestrians had the “little white buds” in their ears. This little white
bud he was referring to was the iPod headphones, which he could quickly
identify due to their popularity. His observation was that when people
put them on, they retreat into their own little world, a world he refers
to as the “iWorld,” in which no one can disturb them. With this little
observation, this shows how society has indeed retreated into the iWorld
and how it can affect such a big population, such as the prestigious
New York City.
Another observation was made in Liz Williams’s, “Is
Being ‘Plugged In’ Changing Campus Life?” Williams argues, “the extent
to which ‘plugged-in-ness’ characterizes contemporary college life, and
considers whether social capital is diminishing within our student
communities as a result of technology-induced isolation.” She emphasizes
that socially, students are not excelling at the rate that they are
supposed to be because they are too busy being “plugged in.” This brings
up the Apple industry once again, and how the Apple products have
contributed to higher demand in their phone and less demand on something
that William’s tries to argue such as going to an educational program,
social events that increase social activity, and diminished civility in
residence hall communities. In the article, two of the authors are
arguing about what’s worth more; the pros or the cons of technology. In
other words, it is a conversation between pro technology and the cons of
technology, which includes the rapid evolution of the. Apple
products. The role of Ethan plays pro technology and favors being
plugged in, however Meg makes some very valid arguments. In one argument
she shows how technology proves that two people can be together
physically, but they won’t interact. ”This image provides a telling
analogy for the negative side of plugged-in-ness…together yet
elsewhere.” She also emphasizes how students have become less social,
showing how on her campus, membership in student organizations has
dropped from 32 percent to 18 percent in the last two decades, the
decades in which technology has been heavily advanced.
In a more
recent article by Sam Costello, “iPhone or Android: Which Smartphone
Should You Buy?” Costello determines the 13 factors on which phone is
worth the wait, moreover worth the money to pay for, the universal
question, the iPhone or the Android? Overall, however, the iPhone won
ten out of the thirteen factors, making it more substantial than the
Android. It won in categories such as Hardware, OS (features)
compatibility, Apps Selection, Control, Gaming, GPS Navigation systems,
Flash, Battery Life, 4G speed, and user experience, further favoring
iPhones over the Androids. By including all these different sources that
iPhones have, humans have developed a connection with the phone and its
myriad of uses. The dependency of the phone and its apps has become so
widespread that it now involves human-like capabilities, portraying the
machine becoming a man, and a man turning into machine because of its
evolution.
From a personal experience, there have been accounts that
I have witnessed that have in fact caused student populations to become
more isolated from reality and more focused on the iWorld revolution. A
few weeks ago on black Friday, a friend had been waiting for a deal to break
out in Best Buy for the brand new iPhone 5, the latest breakout in the
iWorld that is causing a buzz around the world. Due to the popularity
and the peer pressure of obtaining the latest, trendiest iPhone, my
friend spent his night waiting in the lines of Best Buy instead of
spending time with people who truly care about him on Thanksgiving
night. Again, Sullivan’s quote from “Society is Dead, We Have Retreated
into the iWorld” references back to my friend, in that what used to be a
person who was “an insane mishmash of yells, chatter, clatter, hustle
and chutzpah” (referencing New York City), has now become “a little
different. [He] was quieter.” With the iWorld evolution growing steadily
by the moment, machines are acting as substitutes as humans as we
speak, such as the example of my friend waiting in line for iPhones and
not spending time with his family.
Some people may argue that
plugged-in-ness does not breed isolation. They might say that the iPhone
and Apple revolution has only assisted in the evolution of human
beings. However, even if people say that it helps them, inventions such
as Siri have only made people become more like machines and more
dependent on their survival for the human’s own survival. In a sense,
almost every invention of technology recently have been worked towards
human’s becoming lazier and more sluggish. For example, the invention
Siri, an automated voice that responds to your command on the iPhone,
was invented so that humans don’t have to press a button to finish a
command. We could say anything from “can you give me directions to the
North Pole,” and Siri will find it for you instead of inputting
directions yourself. Are we humans really stooping that low to press a
couple of buttons? The answer is a firm yes, with the evolution of
technology vastly growing, humans are becoming more dependent on
technology to do the job for us and thus, humans are becoming like
machines.
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