Little Stalky Considers Technology

I've said it before, I'll say it again - technology is bloody brilliant when it works and a complete pain in the bum when it doesn't.  Take my wireless broadband for example.  It's a wonderful invention as it allows me to access the Internet from the comfort of my own home, stay in touch with those half way around the world and infiltrate the blogging world with my crazy notions.  So when my wireless broadband decides to squiff up, it upsets me and I start going into a kind of Little Stalky style rage.  Much ranting and raving with the occasional melodramatic sigh as I attempt to gain attention and sympathy from Mystical Roo.  As I write this I feel like I'm tempting fate as I'm still trying to get the wireless broadband to work reliably.  I've been on the phone to various "tech support" type folk only for them to suggest it might be an issue my end.  Oh the frustration of it all.  If I suddenly go quiet you'll know why.  I've gone on a mission to find these "tech support" type folk!  The other piece of technology that's decided to go a bit temperamental on us is the PS3, which has suddenly become very selective over which DVDs it chooses to play.  Maybe it's just trying to make a stand, demanding to have some control over what it plays, but really, if I want to watch the new Tom Cruise film then I'll watch it, regardless of whether or not my PS3 approves.  But it got me thinking about how much me now rely on technology.  And do we really appreciate how good most of it is, especially when compared to what we had a decade or so ago.  I remember when I was in primary school we had this old BBC computer that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.  You had to start it up by pressing Shift and Break.  Honestly, does anything even have a Break button anymore?  What is a Break button?  I just remember that it was red and when we pressed the two together the computer would make a kind of juddering churning noise as it tried to leap into life.  More often than not it refused to play ball, but on the occasions it would spring, or rather stumble, to life we got to play exciting games such as the math inspired quest with a wizard and an impossible challenge at the end that no primary school student was wise enough to complete.  It was one of those games with the black screen and big bright green letters combined with 2D characters and weird electronic music.  One of the first computers we had at home used tapes and took about half an hour to load up.  I suppose it's all down to expectations and what you're used to.  I didn't mind waiting for that tape to load up because it was new technology at the time and that's just what happened.  Now, if my PS3 doesn't immediately detect the disc I've given it I stamp my feet impatiently and demand an answer.  How dare it not work.  I'm used to watching my films now and I don't want to wait!  Perhaps we're privileged with the technology that now surrounds us.  Or perhaps it's teaching us to take things for granted.  We have more but does it mean less?  I was so excited when Rabby once told me how I could use the video player to record things from the TV.  Really?  Anything?  Even like Bugs Bunny?  Yes, even Bugs Bunny.  That was so exciting.  But now we have a DVD player and a PS3 and they have to work because that's just what happens.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I can't claim to hate technology because I obviously don't, otherwise I wouldn't be using this laptop and wireless broadband to update my blog but I wonder about how it's now so essential in every day life.  We rely on technology so much it makes you wonder how we'd all get on if there was a major power cut or something.  If our computers go down at work then we're all lost.  If the satnav stopped working, would we know how to read a map?  If our mobile phones lost all signal would we still be able to make conversation?  I suppose it's not that bad as most of us have lived during a time when these skills were still necessary.  But what about the next generation?  I've already told you about the various household items that are plotting against me and I've seen the terminator films.  I'm just saying, maybe we need to start relying a little less on technology.  Before computers enslave mankind!