PERSPECTIVES

NYC "Unplugged"
By Julie Tangen, March 2007

Last weekend I braved a subway ride uptown without my iPod (a most important "staple" for someone living in New York City). Without music to keep me occupied, my mind and attention wandered to other passengers around me. I observed children focused on their video games, people listening to their iPods or plugging away on their Blackberries and thought to myself: five or ten years ago these people might have talked to one another on their commute.

We live in a virtual world where just about anything in technology is possible. Long gone are the days of squeezing fruit and visiting with shop owners—today I can buy my groceries online! I can video chat with my colleagues in the Silicon Valley office—but I can't give them a high five when they score a home run for their clients. I can find a seemingly suitable match with Match.com—but I cant guarantee that there will be even the slightest bit of chemistry.

Technology brings us together in so many ways, but from a social standpoint, what are the repercussions of its advances? Are we on the verge of a breakdown in human interaction? Am I shutting out the world around me as I scroll through my emails waiting for the train?

I thought about these questions and came to the conclusion that 1) I don’t really want to talk with the person next to me on the train, and thanks to my iPod, I don’t have to; and 2) the world has changed and will continue to do so—and the way people interact will naturally change with it. When you think about it, how we met 5 or 10 years ago is certainly different than how we meet and communicate now.

Today people have the best of both worlds. I can create a "customized" world with the help of technology, but can still squeeze the fruit. Its interesting to think what the next decade will bring!