Pushing Our Buttons

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I watched a little boy lost in his own world. While his parents were occupied buying sneakers, the child, perhaps 8 years old, was absorbed in his gadget, intense and content in fiddling with the keyboard.

He is from a generation who has grown up with technology – for them, it is second nature. For the rest of us – who remember waiting anxiously at home for phone calls, and even the now disappearing art of writing letters – it’s a case of playing catch-up with our BlackBerries and iPads, and whatever else is new and improved and on the tech horizon.

For some, though, gadgets and their intrusions into our lives are dehumanizing and we risk becoming desensitized to the real life around us. Eva Muchtar’s solution in her Reflections column is to once in a while make a concerted effort to put down our gadgets and get in touch with ourselves and others.

It’s also interesting to me that Will Wiriawan, a full-blooded techie and gadgets devotee who contributed several articles to this issue, is also a very spiritual man. As is Andy Noya, who uses technology to promote his growing Oprah-like media network, which has at its core inspiring stories of people changing their lives for the better.

For me, the message is as loud and clear as a BB ping: Use those gadgets to enhance your life, but don’t let them take over your being. Ultimately, gadgets come and go, but it’s people who matter.

Back to The top page