I had a great holiday this year. I ended up getting quite a few different gifts, and on that vein, that’s what this article is going to focus on. You see, I love technology. I consider myself a self-proclaimed nerd, and I love being on my laptop, cell phone, and video game consoles. I will happily spend time learning how to better take care of my laptop, and if something goes wrong, I’m much more likely to sit and attempt to fix it myself than bring it into Best Buy. I’ve been working on computers all of my life (comes from being a young’un), and I’d much rather do something technological than write something on paper.

However, I do understand the importance of non-technological communication. Sometimes I feel like that is something that is lost on the current young generation. With all of the IM’ing, all of the texting, and all of the e-mailing, we can easily forget to make sure to spend the time communicating with others. For example, I type over 130 words a minute – very easily. My cursive writing? Not so much. However, when I write my great grandmother every month, I always make sure to write the letter in cursive instead of typing it up. She appreciates the handwritten aspect, and it feels more loving since I spend two hours instead of ten minutes. I’ve seen other students sending their parents text messages to wish them happy birthday; at the very least, you owe your parents a phone call. It’s great to have all these easy ways to communicate with one another, but I feel like natural communication is falling by the wayside.

This Christmas, my family was sitting around discussing random things like you do at a family get-together. Everyone was bonding and everything. My sister pulled out her laptop, turned it on, and proceeded to get on Skype and voice chat with her group of friends. In the middle of our conversation. It was ridiculously distracting, and as you can imagine, everyone then just sat around awkwardly for the next two hours since it was impossible to hold a conversation with her on Skype.

Aside from the mannerism issues that new devices present, there’s always my own personal confusion over the devices. Why must all of my devices act like another device? My cell phone now plays music, can get on the internet, act as a map, download applications like a computer, and can play games. My MP3 player can access the internet and play games. The boyfriend now has an iPad that does everything a laptop can. We both have laptops. I feel like there’s such a ridiculous overlap anymore. My MP3 player doesn’t get as much battery life since it does so many random things like a touch-screen or background colors. Why does my MP3 player need to browse the internet? Why must my phone act like a mini-computer?

I recently just received an MP3 player and an eReader for the Holidays. I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it’s amazingly fulfilling to feel a book in my hands. On the other, we’re starting to get overrun by my random book purchases. This allows me to have a small device that holds all of the books I need. I just don’t adjust well to the new technology. At the very least, though, if I’m ever given an e-book of erotica to review, I can now take it out in public and read it without anyone being any the wiser.

This brings me to another point: I’m confused about the pricing of eBooks. On quite a few of the books I’ve looked at, the eBook versions actually cost more than the physical copy of the eBook. How can that be? I know that it allows you to redownload the copy anytime you want, but it’s still a virtual copy. It takes a lot more more money to print a physical copy than a virtual one. The pricing of eBooks is just getting a bit ridiculous. I’m hoping it’s just the idea of supply and demand, and after eBooks stop being so popular, prices will go down. (I wonder how long it will take until EdenFantasys starts selling e-book erotica. I’d purchase some of that.)

How long until all of our gadgets do things they don’t need to do? I mean, almost all of my electronic toys can browse the internet. Why do I need everything to browse the internet? I feel like my cell phone should just be enough. As our society becomes more dependant on technology, I feel like it’s becoming even more important to block technology out of our lives sometimes. There’s always some sort of technology going on in our apartment. Sometimes it’s the boyfriend video games, and sometimes it’s my laptop. Other times, it’s our iHome playing music. I’m just worried about when the point comes where we won’t be able to function on our own without adding in all of the technological additions.

What if that happens to sex someday? What if, someday, none of us can manage to enjoy sex with our partner without adding in sex toys? What if, in an evolution of how we interact, we start having all of our “serious” conversations over e-mail or text? What if, because of our diets and lack of exercise, external lubricant becomes a requirement in order to enjoy sex – because we’ve malnourished our bodies enough that they don’t produce lubrication correctly? Maybe this evolution could be a good thing; maybe it will make talking about sex as something that is much more acceptable. Who knows where technology will take us? I just worry about the problems it will lead to in the future.

Maybe someday I’ll get more used to all of theses gadgets. I feel like I’m giving “geek” a bad name with my dislike for new technology. It’s just that technology does so many random things now. My phone is less efficient at making calls since it can do everything else under the sun. I feel like I must be going on ninety years old with how much I’m having a hard time adjusting to new technology. I wonder how much technology will have advanced in ten years. It can’t be just me, right? What are your experiences with technology?