IPod's and Laziness

I am currently enrolled in a course entitled contemporary social issues through film in which we discuss many aspects of entertainment and its relationship to human lives. This course combined with the sheer number of IPod’s, cell phones, and other electronic devices that can be seen anywhere on campus. All of this made me think of how lazy, for lack of a better word, we have become with our desire to be entertained and to be entertained whenever we feel like it.
Not too long ago things such as IPod’s did not exist, and very few people had things such as Discman’s to listen to at their leisure. Music was something that if you wanted to listen to, you had to be in a car or near a radio. Now with the advent of portable music devices those days are a distant memory, and for younger people it is a time that simply did not exist. We can now listen to music whenever we want, in our own homes, in the car with our handy auxiliary converters, when walking down the street, or even sneaking it during a particularly boring class. Someone in our class once said that these devices are encouraging us to be antisocial in a way and I have to agree. The ease and convenience of these are causing us to become antisocial and even lazy to a dangerous degree.
One cannot deny that with the alarming increases in technology that our life is becoming easier but passed the point where it is beneficial. Things like cars might help make travel easier, but we now have a high number of obese individuals and we are polluting the environment at a rapid pace. Things are being marketed in ways that promote concepts of ease, comfort, and speed. Even things such as shopping, an activity that once required one to leave their home, can now be done on their computer.
I have to admit that I too have succumbed to the allure of easy living. I have my own IPod with a converter so that I can listen to it in my car, just the other night I bought a CD online rather than take the time to go to a store; I also research things for papers online than take the time to hunt it down in the library. Well there is my little rant after having a course with Ed Curtin, an amazing teacher I might add.


Question: What sorts of technology do you think do more harm than good for mankind, besides ones used for killing?