essaysfromtheedge

Beam Me Up.... PLEASE!

The newest craze in fashionable high-tech is not the iPhone. It's that stupid-looking little bluetooth gadget you stick in your ear so you can do "hand's-free" cell phoning.



The gadget itself is a pretty clever idea. The problem I have, being an old fart who remembers when stuff like this was the fodder of campy sci-fi, is the people who use them never take them out of their head; even when they're not on the phone. It's become akin to jewelry - an earring for the un-pierced.



I've been calling these folks - both behind their backs and to their faces - Bionic Men (and Women). You're in a coffee shop and some guy is chatting away with an apparent apparition (until you see the little gee-gaw sticking out of the side of his face). He "hangs up" (definitely an outdated colloquialism if there ever was one), and he leaves the thing in; like it's stuck there with some epoxy made up of one part chutzpah, one part laziness.



No matter how cool you think you look, this thing instantly dashes any inkling of hipness straight out the window.



Remember the story of the woman who spent 6 years on her couch, and eventually her skin grafted to the couch? She died when the medical folks tried to separate her and her furniture. This is certainly the fate of our android friends.



I've stopped calling these folks Bionic Men (Women). Just like our cell phones bear a remarkable resemblance to Star Trek's Communicator, these little ear buds look too similar to Uhura's communication ear piece for me to pass up.



So, in future, everyone sporting a bluetooth headset will be called "Uhura."

Join me in the fun.



-

posted by Tomás @ 8/22/2007 11:33:00 AM