Sunday, February 5, 2012

Gadget - The Technology of Enslavement


When we look around ourselves, we find that we are living in the ever evolving world of Gadgets or we can rather say that we are being enslaved by the Gadgets.  So what is a Gadget? Let’s draw a caricature of Gadget with following definition –
“A Gadget is a small device or appliance with a particular functionality that may be considered as a novelty over and above the existing technological products.  They may be scaled down version of the technological products or may be an upscale version, but one thing they surely add to the use is comfort and user friendliness.” Gadgets are often referred as Gizmos also.
When we look at the Gadgets that we have around us, we find them touching every walk of our life; right from the morning alarm to the phones to the driving aids of Bluetooth and to the e-readers all have evolved over past decade or so.  Below we discuss some of the most talked gadgets today
1.       Smartphones – With the features of Alarms, Digital Diaries, Notes, emails, News and Web Surfing, ebooks, chats and messengers, camera etc. they have changed the way the world used to communicate. Add to the new generation of smartphones that have video-calling facility.
2.       E-readers – They have really reduced the millions and zillions of pages in small and thin electronic readers to provide the ease of carrying our favorite books whenever and wherever we go.  Add to that the books available for free and on the subscription based facility to be able to choose from thousands of books in just one thin device, even smaller than our usual text books.
3.       Digital Cameras – Gone are the days when we had to buy the camera, the role and then run around to do the errands of getting the role developed and print.  Now we are in the era where we can simply take the photo and share that with our friends and family across geographies in minutes with just a click.  Well, indeed the new generation of cameras are talking about share on Social networks via a Wi-Fi Connectivity
4.       Tablets – The new generation of Computing Devices that have really submerged the difference between a smartphone and a Laptop/desktop.  Moreover the touchscreen, the camera, the video capture functionality, the e-reader etc are all merged in this one device that provide the facility to connect either through a wi-fi or normal mobile phone network.  Though they are not yet a success in India, but future is still bright for them.
5.       Game Consoles – With the Playstations and Xboxs, the games have entered the living room of the house with the video sensitivity added and the Motion detector helping you imitate the real world. These gaming Consoles have also converged the normal social points to the living rooms by converging the TV and Gym to our living rooms.
So indeed, it is not exaggerating to say, we are becoming the Slaves of Gadgets and Drifting to a world of Monotony.