The Very Thing That … Makes You Rich … Makes Me Poor
Tim Cook, the poor schmuck running the trillion dollar company called Apple, sat down for an interview yesterday after introducing an app that would let Apple users monitor their addictions. In a speech earlier he had told appsters how Apple was a company dedicated to making humanity better. Google states it somewhat differently, Do No Evil, but in the end all these techno-innovators are convinced they are the salvation of the world. Asked if he thought his company had addicted millions to his device, Tim took umbrage. No, not at all. His device gave them freedom.
Earth to Tim, then why do they need an Apple app that tells them how much they use it? Just another product, he said, that gives its customers more flexibility. And as far as addiction was concerned, well, he told his interviewer, he was not a clinician. He also mentioned how surprised he was at his own time spent on his marvelous device, something he really hadn’t noticed previously. Why he needs the app, I guess.
I’m not a clinician either, but I doubt if I need a degree in psychopathology to diagnose the folks sitting at a dinner table who manage to operate their thumbs incessantly and only occasionally, if at all, join in a conversation. Or the people in a checkout line who work the phone while their groceries are bagged. Or the ones in aisle 8 calling a spouse to see if the mayo is the correct brand. Watch how many people jump in their car and immediately pick up the phone. When’s the last time you actually had a conversation with a kid who didn’t have earpods jammed in or who wasn’t checking text messages? I haven’t had one since about 2006.
Addiction? Oh baby, we’re addicted. We’re addicted to our devices. We’re addicted to TV. We’re addicted to video games and email and text messaging and Facebook. We walk around all day with the syringe plunged deep into our brain and the guyz who brought us this smack say they’re not clinicians. Neither is the heroin dealer in my neighborhood.
They’ve rewired our brains. They’ve transformed our society. They’ve altered our politics and they’ve pulled the rug on democracy. Let’s imagine, like Tim, that this is for our own good. That this will be a brave new world. That with his device we’re so much more free. But I’m not buying it, literally or figuratively, and yeah, I know, I’m going to be left in the exhaust. There’s an old Ry Cooder song that comes to mind that probably applies to me, my very own app: The Very Thing That … Makes You Rich … Makes Me Poor. I know, Tim, you’re not an economist either.
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Tags: Apple Addiction, Apple Apps, Tim Cook