Everyone is well aware of not only the prevalence of technology in this society, but also the popularity of Apple products. They are everywhere. It's the child happily playing temple run on a gold iPhone. It's the iPad placed neatly on your table at your favorite restaurant. It's the runner next to you at the gym, sprinting to a beat provided by an iPod. Obviously, Apple's success is due to it's ability to conjure up ingenious ideas that satisfy the public's wants, wants that the public themselves didn't even know they had. Who knew we would become obsessed with the ability to send small cartoons (emojis) when we text or that we would love being able to call someone and not only hear their distinct voice, but also see their beautiful face? Apple does a pretty impressive job of not only inventing devices that the public enjoys, but devices that take over our society.
To some extent, these products improve society immensely. I can say that having multiple Mac labs at my college is advantageous for the students that utilize the programs they provide. Along with Apple's ability to better education, the capability to connect with another with a stroke of a finger is another advantage of these amazing products. Loved ones can speak with one another no matter how far the distance, and group messages conveniently conjoin everyone in a particular friend group into one massive conversation.
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Apple products also allow us to have a better taste of each others' lives. A beaming Grandmother can show her friend a picture of her adorable grandson in his lion costume over lunch. Two friends can watch a drunken video recorded the previous night. Clearly, I know and accept the ubiquitous upsides of possessing any Apple products. They make life not only simpler, but more colorful. However, in our ever-growing need to possess the newest and coolest products, I think we have lost the very thing Apple promises us; the ability to connect and truly communicate with one another.
Parents used to admonish their children for constantly having their head buried in their device. Now, that reprimanding is archaic. EVERYONE has their head buried in their device. Whether it's the father waiting in line for his Starbucks latte with one hand on his stroller, the other holding his phone, or the mother intently scrolling on her feed instead of speaking to her daughter at the end of their dinner, everyone is now guilty of swapping human interaction for a relationship with their device. Apple claims that its products will aid in storing memories and allowing people to communicate with one another. However, this is untrue, because we are so occupied with Instagramming rather than making memories and texting meaningless conversations rather than holding a real, face-to-face one.
I am not proposing that we get rid of all Apple products. I am merely suggesting that we need to drastically decrease the amount of time we spend on them. We need to start experiencing life instead of constantly staring at a small screen. Apple products are great and all, until they consume our lives so much that there is no life left to record, share, and text about.
