Laptopistan

Thoughts on Laptopistan

"Only Connect." -- E. M. Forester

I wonder what E.M. Forester would say today if he knew the ways in which his cry for less alienation and more humanity has been completely co-opted by the technical junkies of the 21st century?

An article in the Sunday NY Times, "Destination: Laptopistan" by David Sax is the essay I've been waiting for. You can read the article yourself by clicking here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/nyregion/05laptop.html

He points out the techfaux pas -- things such as speaking above a whisper or daring to address a comment to a fellow coffee-shop patron-- of this brave new world of isolation and 24/7 connection. Well, that's my response to what he's talking about, anyway.

And Sax is right. It's really not O.K. to talk to strangers anymore but not for the reasons that you might think. Whatever happened to cordial pleasantries--the ones that used to make us more connected to each other and aware of the existence of another human being? Last Saturday, as I sat down to wait for my sister to doctor her cup of coffee at a walk-up kiosk in a mall in Chapel Hill, I struck up a conversation with an elderly lady in a wheel chair. We chatted about Roses--the discount store, not the flower. (Yep--this mall actually has a Roses and it is a step back in time, let me tell you. They even have a "Health and Beauty Aids" section. Love it.) My point is that this lady and I talked. We had a conversation. I didn't pull out a cellphone and immediately start texting someone. She didn't bop to music streaming into her ears from discreet ear buds. We chatted. We made eye contact. We laughed. We identified with each other. I wondered about her health; why was she in a wheel chair? I didn't ask. I'll never see her again, probably. Days later I still remember her friendliness, her smile. You don't get that in Laptopistan.