"I don't have a mobile phone, I don't have a computer or an iPod--I don't have any of that crap. I think it's much better to be like Amy Winehouse than to be aged 24 and stuck in front of a computer all day. If you are stuck in front of a computer you aren't actually living, you're living by proxy."
--Shane McGowan, The Daily Mirror, December 24, 2007
Handsome devil that Shane. Looks like he would have a problem operating a cell phone an ipod or a potato gun for that matter. Least ways, too drunk to care.
He's more right than wrong. The people that cant live without these devices 24/7 are turds and need to get over themselves.
Although I responded by being my cynical, sarcastic self, I agree with what he states in that quote.
Kids and many adults walk around with cell phones glued to their ears or text messaging on the keys and constant mental bombardment by audio from personal music devices delivered directly by headphones help to keep people immune to the world going on around them.
If what he's saying is that modern day technology has allowed us to be disengaged from real life, he's right.
Of course we could get by without these items (we clearly did for centuries) but why would we want to?
Would you rather have a mile walk to a call box? In an emergency, AAA is as close as your cell phone.
News and information at the touch of your finger. Unless you're married to the lady at the library desk, can't get much better than the internet.
Shelves full of LP's, CD's, or dare I say, 8Track tapes? Or a device in the palm of your hand smaller than a Tricorder? I'll take the Ipod.
You can blame handguns for violence, or Ryder trucks for explosions, or people for their own disengagement. Since many people tuned out from society before these things were even invented, I'll blame people.
I love the new technologies and they’ve certainly improved our lives and made us more comfortable and productive. In fact, the same things were probably said about them new fangled transistor radios that all the kids had in the 60’s listening to that rock and roll!
But with all of the diversions (electronic and otherwise) that people have these days, they don’t need to deal with people if they decide not to thus they can remove themselves from real life if they choose not to confront it. For many, it’s been a good thing for them personally but I’m not sure how it benefits society as a whole.
The statements made by McGowan do sound funny coming from a guy who sits in a hotel room blasts Zeppelin, reads and gets drunk by himself.
He's 100% right. Used sparingly, these devices are fine. When they begin to replace real-life interaction with fellow human beings (see MySpace, Facebook, et al) or real-life experiences, well, you aren't living at all, as he states.
