What Century Is It?

Tonight was laundry night. After hauling what must have been 230 pounds of dirty clothing down three and a half flights of stairs into the "basement of washing" I realized I had two different options for washing my clothes.
I could wash my clothes in the standard, one dollar per load electric laundry machine. Or I could apparently cast off the last three hundred years of technology, and hand wash my clothes in a rusted out tub and wringer. Ultimately I decided that while I may save some money, I'd end up paying much more in time and elbow grease if I used the "free" washer.

But, for a brief second I realized how much I take for granted in my modern life, made so easy and convenient after centuries of technological advance. Tonight I took full advantage of the billions of minds that have gone before me and created such marvels as the electrical washing machine. But I feel I owe it to myself and my ancestors to one day cast off all modern technology for a week to better appreciate the contributions of our ancestors. I hereby pledge to someday go Amish for a full week.

Robots Invade the Super Market

Today's trip to the supermarket left me feeling, as usual, conflicted. But today's conflict was not caused by the usual culprits of unruly taste buds and health conscience brain cells battling it out. No, this day's conflict was fueled by technology. It seems our local grocery store has installed hand held scanners that let you scan your food as you shop, thus outsourcing the checkout clerk's job to the customers.
I won't lie, it was certainly fun running through the aisles pretending to scan alien life forms and shouting Captain Kirk quotes. Checking out after our trip was also quite speedy. But as computers expand into every aspect of my life, my love/hate relationship with technology grows larger.

Set phasers to stun!

How many years do we have left before the coming robot revolution? They can already beat us at chess and build our cars. Now they follow me through the grocery store showing me digital coupons and begging me to buy more Oreos while I do the same job the use to pay a person to do. Not to mention I almost accidentally stole four items when I forgot to scan them. I've seen the Matrix enough times to know what happens next. All too often we seem to be blinded by the coolness of new technology to notice it's downside until it is far too late. I guess I'll just go home and blog about it on my computer.