Tuesday, March 23, 2010  4:24 PM
iTraditional
I am sitting at Starbucks amidst arty professionals and studious boys on their Macbooks (everyone has an Apple computer these days), a lone couple who have come in to read the newspapers and enjoy a chocolate fudge cake together, and out of the corner of my eye, two nubile uniform-clad girls sharing a muffin. They carry backpacks and look barely into their teens. I also see my neighbour, just a year younger than I am, who always brings a different boy home every time I bump into her in the elevator. This time, she’s with two boys and they both look enamored. My favourite barista just walks in; she smiles and waves at me. She has new bangs. I love people-watching. As I was walking here earlier this afternoon, I thought about how the iPhone has taken over the world. It has undeniably made life easier with the multitude of applications that are downloadable off App Store but do we really need those things? I am an iPhone lover myself, and yes I love the fact that Coffee Finder helps me get to my nearest frothy cup of iced green tea latte, and how my Facebook app means I’m connected to my friends all the time. Style.com is my favourite app for many reasons, of which I shouldn’t start naming but one being it keeps me awake during especially dry sermons on Sunday mornings. Daytrotter gives me alternative music whenever I want it and the eBay app means I’ll never lose another bid again. But I miss the simplicity and endless possibilities before apps infiltrated itself into almost every single conversation I have, how I can go out with a bunch of people and everyone is hooked on their iPhone and we end up sitting there and not talking, how we meet up to play games on our iPhones instead of having one meaningful conversation that I’ll always remember. So on days like these when I’m given the luxury to people-watch instead of fiddling with another iPhone app or texting non-stop to other iPhone users on What’s App, I’m feeling strangely happy. This is one of the few reasons why I believe strongly in print journalism, and thumbing through pages of bound books in a public library. Not everything should move on with technology and times, because we’ll then become a society only connected by the World Wide Web and not any other means. You lose the ability to communicate. I recently watched “Up in the Air”, and they championed firing people through a webcam or text message. Can you imagine living in a society like that? Or breaking up with someone over email? That’s one of the worst things that can ever happen to anyone. You also become reliant on things that you will flail without – for example, my father is married to his GPS, while I have a love-hate relationship with it. I never use it unless I really need to, because I get annoyed at its mechanic voice telling me to “turn right in 500 metres”, when it really means 100 metres. This means that my father cannot get anywhere new without his trusty guide, and what’s worse, even when I know better, he listens to the GPS instead of me, which results in yet another argument. The day his GPS dies on him, he’ll be lost, in all meanings of the word. I miss the days where I’d hang out with someone and we won’t be interrupted by another text message, or sit through dinner comparing apps and what’s the next cool thing to download, or not have a stupid argument with my best friend telling her to put away her iPhone because it’s stealthily stealing her away from me. I’m traditional and I think I could live without all these things. But maybe I’m on my own. Two uniform-clad boys have just come in to pick up the two young uniform-clad girls. They leave together and I see the baristas behind the counter shaking their heads and sighing, “Young and carefree.” As I watch the teenagers leave, I wonder why they’re even hanging out at a coffee joint. Because when I was their age, the place to be was McDonalds at King Albert Park or Burger King in town. We didn’t have money for expensive coffee. I’m not even thirty yet and I’m already shaking my head at the younger generation. Even my grandmother is cooler than me. She talks to teenagers at the bus stop all the time. I wouldn’t.
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