Jared Lang

Live simple, efficient

Jared Lang | Highlands Today
Published: May 23, 2012

In today's day and age, few things hold as much importance in technological advancement as simplicity and efficiency. We no longer strive for bigger and better, but smaller and faster.

Steve Jobs was one of the first pioneers to realize this transformation and created an empire with those two goals in mind. One main reason for Apple's success is its focus on user friendly platforms and the appealing designs of its products. The new iPad basically consists of a touch screen and button. Behind this simple, small design is more technological power than in those car-size computers from the 1950s.

Throughout history, the innovations and inventions of man have generally reflected the society from which they came. During the time of the cavemen, new necessities — such as fire and reliable sources of food — were realized. As a result, tools were developed. These tools were very basic, but they started fires and provided means to obtain food. The needs of the cavemen were met.

As mankind became more developed, most of our needs were easily met and amenities began to share some of the importance formerly held by the essentials. The ancient Greeks and Romans wanted to establish a structured and enlightened society, so they explored mathematics and philosophy.

During the Industrial Revolution, the spread of capitalism lead to an age of people that wanted utilize all of their resources. Because of this, nearly every aspect of life saw technological and economic progress. The Space Race and Arms Race of the 60's and 70's is a direct reflection of nations around the world wanting to establish their dominance over the others.

For the first time in history, the technology of our time bears not the slightest resemblance to the society we live in. Though we expect simplicity and efficiency in everything, we display neither in our lives. As our devices get smaller, our appetites get bigger. Our appetites for food, entertainment and satisfaction are growing every day. The fine line between want and need is more blurred than ever. Consequently, we live in a world of distractions.

The gadgets and novelties we hold so dear do a great job of satisfying our wants. Ingenious marketing, however, convinces us that we need these items. Their presence becomes ingrained in our being and without them, we feel naked.

The world is dependent, even addicted to things like TV, texting and social media. It is clearly evident in our everyday lives. It's pretty common for people to plan their whole week around TV programs. Texting and driving has become a dangerous epidemic. Even right now as I type this, Facebook is open in another tab.

This invasion of our lives by these distractions is so extreme that sometimes the real, important parts of our day feel like the unnecessary ones. What? We have to stop playing Angry Birds to hold a conversation? Blasphemy!

We do, though, as a nation, need to stop. We need to stop playing Angry Birds. We need to stop sharing insights about our every thought online. We especially need to stop texting and driving. We have been conditioned to crave entertainment and interaction, and this obsession is unhealthy.

It's time that our ideals for technology matched our actions as a society. Be simple. Be efficient. The resulting peace might surprise you.