Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
A FEW hours ago, we lost our internet connection temporarily. And sitting at my computer, watching the eerily white screen that bellowed 'Internet Explorer cannot display this webpage', I panicked.
Suddenly, I felt cut off from the world. How was I supposed to research my 'Theory of Knowledge' essay? How was I supposed to look up Spanish vocabulary? How was I supposed to finish my economics portfolio without reading up on the Spanish economy on Wikipedia?
And, filled with the adrenaline of looming deadlines, I sprung up with maniac fervour looking around for tools, checking the ADSL line and reconnecting the router.
One hour. That was the time I had been left internet-less. And, what a fuss I made.
I've realised that the present generation has become so intrinsically connected to the World Wide Web that it seems impossible to function without it.
The horror of writing a comparative literature analysis without Google!
Everywhere we go, we are somehow linked to this vast entity of technology. Say, for example, we go to a movie - that we've paid for on Blackberry. We then blog about the movie and later, tweet an excerpt of the post. And, to top it off, the tweet automatically comes up on our Facebook newsfeed, complete with pictures, trailers and ratings. Unconsciously, we have become almost completely dependent on our gadgets; waiting for the little red notification flag on Facebook, tinkling 'dings' of new mail in our inboxes and the flashing red light on our Blackberrys.
I, in fact, am hardly seen away from my well-used and keyboard-chipped laptop, except for lessons and mealtimes.
It's an incredible thing, noticing how much of our day revolves around computers and our little techno-toys; how being internet-less for just one hour can cost companies lots of money and business, how not checking your email inbox can result in failure to meet strict deadlines, how not having a cell phone in your pocket for the first time in your life is the day you're left stranded in the middle of the desert.
When people reminisce about the days before television, citing the extraordinary times they had without technology, cynical about technology-dependence these days - I scoff and beg to differ. Being born in a technology-driven world cultivates children who follow the same path.
We can't expect the children of 2011 to spend their free time playing with jacks or milking cows. We are, in effect, engrained with the technology drive - machines are at our fingertips.
Though I've never milked a cow before, I know for a fact that I'd have a much better time tinkering around with XML codes on my blog's source code.
I'm not saying we are a kind of hybrid - of men and machines. Rather, a being that's just seen so much development in science that however far we drift from our computer desks to the cheery, sunlit fields, we will always find our way back, craving touch-screens and customisable desktops.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've finally got all the plugs in all the right sockets and I've got my internet back. Hungrily, I get back to the familiar cyber world.
Ding!
And I think I've just got mail.
