h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now don't get me wrong, I love modern life. I like being able to effortlessly communicate with friends in completely different time zones, getting news within minutes of it happening and all our mod cons, but it's the pacing that frightens me.
We have our mobiles, computers and PDAs, all manner of widgets and gewgaws meant to organise us, to make our mundane tasks quicker and easier and to make us more productive. So with all this technology to help us, I sometimes wonder why we as a nation seem to be working increasingly longer hours? You'd think it'd be the other way around.
I studied ergonomics and time management for a year back in '07. One of the most frightening things that cropped up during that time was that so many people need to schedule time to relax. Like it's another point on the daily agenda.

It sometimes seems like society has advanced faster than the people in it are capable of really coping with, y'know? Or maybe I'm just missing those 10 hour student naps.

Mr Adams was a great lover and early adopter of technology so I cannot be too cruel. The problem is that all these gadgets stop us from thinking for ourselves. My favorite camera is a 50's zeiss which you need a light meter and a brain. My Nikon digital does all the thinking for you so I'm not in control.

It seems that a lot more people are controlled by their gadgets than the other way round. We as humans need time to contemplate and rest and keep in touch with our inner selves but it seems that for the majority if they are not listening to something through their headset, watching something on a screen or not doing some work related activity it is a step into the unknown to which they cannot relate.
All this modern stuff can help but individually we need to keep it in check before we just become slaves to the schedules on our phone's, PDA's and work calendar.
Work, keeping in touch constantly with news, friends activities, spreadsheets and graphs are overrated and unnecessary, they have become a modern addiction. It would be a good idea if the whole country could try a communications fast for a day or two and see if it really made any difference to their productivity. I bet after recovering from the withdrawal symptoms they would suffer, the world would look and feel a quieter and much less distracting place.

Ha, it'd be quite refreshing to drop away from social networking, email and my mobile for a while. Shame I work in the tech sector, like. I'll grant you, it's hard to think of a world without constant access to information, but with the constant stream of data coming in, my attention span is just ridiculous.
I'd like tchnology to have more of an element of thought required at times. I mean if only as an age restriction. Still, I quite enjoy certain things being idiot proof. Maybe there's a happy medium, technology with a high potential for customisation, but that you can pick up and use out of the box if you want to.