Pondering the future of technology after viewing an interview with Steve Jobs on Netflix... I can't help to question whether the "perfectification" of computer technology that makes Apple products so congenial and so useable that one forgets they are using a computer at all is something that will lead society toward greener pastures, or, rather, toward more frightening possibilities. Films like The Matrix show how an almost complete computerization (or digitization,"virtualization") of life on earth might look. It seems appropriate to invoke Gollum here too - with computer devices like Macbook Airs and iPhones that people covet so severely, I am reminded of that little cave-dwelling once-healthy beast so concerned about his most "precious" shiny possession. What will become of those who attach themselves too much to these addiction-creating devices? Detachment from those things that actually promote and sustain their lives? And, as can be seen in various post-apocalyptic renditions - this very detachment, alienation, will eventually lead to a jarring re-assertion of the more immediate and direct needs (I am thinking here of The Road and the incessant trial for survival in a hostile environment).
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