Human versus iPod Touch

I love technology. I really do. I love how people, much smarter then I am, can come up with an idea for a new electronic product that can do things that we could only have dreamed of in science fiction when I was a kid. Just a few examples; there is a couple of tech guys and scientists who have come up with a body suit of sorts that allows a paraplegic to walk. The man that they were showing, wearing this suit, hadn't walked in years, but now thanks to this technology he is able to walk after a fashion. There has been at least one famous person who had a device implanted near his deaf ears that now allows him to hear. And then there are the guys in Europe who built a car that can be folded like a stroller. The list of things could go on forever. Then we have the more personal devices such as computers and smart phones. My family has just recently been introduced to the joys of iPods, makes us wonder how we ever got anything done with out them, and then there is all the social networking websites. We are, in short, one of the most technologically and electronically connected societies in the world but I think that in the age of "touch " every thing, that we have, perhaps, lost sight of something more important, the human touch. Not to be taken wrong, I like my cell phone and iPod, I love having the ability to chat with people thousands of miles away via the computer or post this blog to a social network but think of how many times something that you have said, via the web, has been taken wrong or out of context simply because someone couldn't see your face or actually hear your voice. They took it wrong because, we are wired, to listen to tone and inflection as well as observe body language, none of which you can really get online or while texting. We have of course, invented some pretty handy short words and smiles to help express our thoughts and ideas but there is nothing quite like up close and personal. Twice in my married life, I have been separated from my family for extended periods of time and it was great to have the technology available to contact them, but once I came back I couldn't get enough of personal contact and it was hard for me to let them out of my sight for any length of time. It wasn't that I lacked contact, it just wasn't human physical contact. We were recently visiting some friends and I found myself amused that all of us were sitting in the same room talking and joking but we were all wired at the same time. My son was on an iPod, my daughter on a laptop, my wife and I were on an iPod, as were our friends. We were actually interacting via these devices by playing games and talking, but we were also all surfing the web. I suppose it could be argued that this is the modern day version of sitting around the radio to listen to Buck Rogers or the tube to watch the Ed Sullivan show, but still somehow I find this less personal. Back in those days everyone was doing the same thing so that somehow connected you to others. Mobile technology seems to make it different somehow. I remember I was at a baseball game with a friend a few years ago and there was a man and his young son, sitting a few rows down from us, the son was trying to find out what was going on because he didn't understand the game but the father ignored him and then became angry with him for interrupting what ever it was that he was doing on his phone. Other then getting angry with him, he didn't interact with his son and missed a great bonding moment. Perhaps it boils down to a lack of human contact and bonding. I enjoy reading people's status updates and their links to various pages, and texting has become quite fun for me as well as a challenge and I think it's nice to make arrangements with our friends to get together via the internet, but, I have to admit, I am old fashioned. I actually prefer personal to electronic, I'll take human touch over iPod touch anytime....excuse me I have to answer this text.....