Who needs technology anyway?

My husband is obsessed with the latest in gadgetry and I am still scrubbing clothes on his washboard stomach. It seems there is just no meeting in the middle.

While I can appreciate how certain technologically advanced items can make things a) easier, b) faster or c) within reach, I sometimes question their validity. Perhaps this makes me a hypocrite as I can’t go a day without my laptop but I don’t for example text while driving. I simply lean over and talk to the person I am sending the message to who I presume is almost always the passenger in the car with the texter.

I use a hair dryer and a baby monitor….oooooh, that’ll turn some heads at that Commodore 64 conference behind that curtain marked 1982.

But all of these gadgets make it impossible to buy a gift for my husband who knows how things work and is impressed by the science behind them.

I would be thrilled to buy him an ipod docking station with a built-in charger and clock radio/alarm because he already has one. This would mean I’m not totally in the dark when it comes to his interests. Electric tie rack? If it was wireless with a blue-tooth microphone and produced the tie of your choice while using voice activation from the comfort of your morning shower, selected a shirt to go with said tie and ironed it, maybe.

He recently purchased a Blue Ray player and was quick to rent a Blue Ray disc to try it out. I can’t help but giggle when he appears to be blown away by the picture quality and sound of Frost Nixon. Couldn’t we have watched this movie on my old 12 inch and had an even more authentic experience?

And yes, I’ll admit I can’t live without my heated mattress pad but I could probably live just fine without our sophisticated door chime that has replaced the Amish doorbell we used to have. Apparently the doorbell is too passé for this generation and we needed a device that is disguised as a doorbell that people could ring and it would send a message to our intricately wired phone system, with its own distinct doorbell sound so I would no longer have to go to the door to see who was ringing….. calling…buzzing?

I use a kettle with an automatic shut-off so I don’t burn the house down if I forget I’ve plugged it in. That just makes good sense. I guess I just don’t see why it’s necessary for my daughter to get off the couch in the middle of a t.v. show (on the weekend) and yell, “pause it, I have to go pee!” Apparently that’s a real function and I just found out we have it.

My night stand used to be home to my watch and maybe a glass for water. There’s really no place to put either of these two items now with my 3D goggles, kindle and ipad claiming the space. Greg’s side has only enough room for his ipod docking station and Shake Weight.

This morning, I heard the alarm go off at 6am. I turned off my side of the heated mattress, picked up the monitor and took it with me into the bathroom. When I made it into the kitchen, careful not to trip over the Roomba, the  automatic coffee pot had finished brewing Greg’s coffee, the dishwasher light was flashing “clean” and I approached the laundry room where the machines make plinking noises when you press buttons and to alert you of a completed cycle.

Have we gone too far?

One saving grace in this modern world is Rosie the robot from the Jetson’s. Not once has she been late with my tea and she’s great at strapping a baby into a car seat.