The old adage: "necessity is the mother of invention", seems somewhat questionable in this day and age, when regarded against the backdrop of the deluge of inventions that ceaselessly bombard our daily lives.
As faceless geeks mercilessly slog away in some huge corporation`s basement to bring us yet another amusing, if somewhat dubiously useful gadget, one has to wonder where civilisation would be if necessity were indeed the mother of invention.
My guess would be that invention and innovation would have reached their zenith somewhere around the time that the wheel, electricity and plumbing were spawned - okay, maybe also sliced bread. After all, what else do we really need to exist in a state of relative comfort?
So, since necessity has clearly lost its maternal instincts, it would be fair to say that laziness readily took its place. Let`s face it, from the mundane and simplistic, like abdominal work-out contraptions, to the hi-tech, such as cellphones with built-in cameras, and computerised fridges that do everything short of mowing the lawn, how much of this stuff do we really need?
Remember the days before cellphones? It was a long time ago - yes, around the time when Boerassic Park (today known as Parliament) still ruled the land - when I still had the basic human right to be out and unreachable. With the advent of mobile telecommunications, that right became extinct - pretty much like the pack of finger-wagging tyrannosauruses that inhabited Boerassic Park.
Now, not answering your cellphone or, God forbid, switching it off for any reason is akin to committing large-scale genocide. My own mother sounds edgy and indignant whenever she gets to interact with my voice-mail box.
Flirty messages
Some cynics would argue that modern technology also killed romance, with such conveniences as online dating and lonely-hearts chatrooms.
Martin Czernowalow, Senior journalist, ITWeb
But did mobile telecommunication stop at simple phone calls? Indeed it didn`t. Laziness seems a bit lax on the conception side of things - apart from being able to watch TV, listen to the radio and access the Web from my cellphone, I can now receive daily irritating text messages that are absolutely crucial to my survival.
Weather updates, sports scores, horoscopes, restaurant specials, home loan offers and Michael Jackson-trial news flashes all conspire to make my day fuller and richer. However, as far as SMS gimmicks go, two things totally befuddle me.
The first is the lovers` compatibility test. Simply SMS your name and that of your partner (SMSes charged at R3.50) to a certain number and presto! The success or failure of a potential relationship is instantly revealed. What happened to the old-fashioned, chivalrous approach of going to a bar and buying a lady a drink? Well, the upside is that I save a lot of money this way - I demand names before any drinks are bought.
The second priceless SMS trick, the purpose of which seems even more obscure, is the SMS flirt. SMS the word "flirt" to a number (at R2 per SMS) and wait for a full ego massage. Unfortunately, instead of receiving a risqu'e endearment, a rather dry response comes back asking for your name. After more button-pushing, and another R2 later, the flirting finally begins - "Hello Martin, how are you doing?"
What? Is that it? More button-pushing and R20 later I`m left feeling unsatisfied and definitely unflirted with - not to mention my aching thumb. Amusing? Maybe. Necessary? Certainly not.
Of course, some cynics would argue that modern technology also killed romance, with such conveniences as online dating and lonely-hearts chatrooms, which open the door for socially dysfunctional perverts to hide their true identities and intentions behind a computer interface.
I`d love to dwell on this some more, but I have to go. There is a sexy blonde online dying to meet me. Did I mention she`s smart, rich and owns a tropical island?
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