Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Technology is Emasculating

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Cynical Girl: Technology is Emasculating

Posted: 08 Apr 2013 06:45 AM PDT

Sergey Brin said that the smartphone is emasculating.

You know what’s emasculating? Being Sergey Brin, the creator of a Google phone that failed. When the Windows phone is a better option, you know you’ve lost that round.

And you know what’s even more emasculating than being Sergey Brin? Those fugly Google glasses. Are you Lance Armstrong? Are you Shaun White? Take those silly things off your face, asshole. Make eye contact like a real man when you talk to me.

While I get Sergey Brin’s overarching point that it is stupid to stare aimlessly at a smartphone, it was only stupid when Google failed at making a phone. And whether it is a phone or a pair of glasses, it is impossible to multitask. We are not computers. We cannot split our attention effectively. You will always have to choose where you spend your time — online or in the real world — until they implant the chip in your brain.

So don’t believe the marketing hype. The invention of Google glasses doesn’t make an augmented, blended reality any easier. And it’s not like Google glasses will make our lives better, either.

But you know what really bugs me? A nerd like Sergey Brin shouldn’t throw the world “emasculate” around lightly. Powerful billionaire geeks look pretty good when they are billionaire geeks wearing expensive Oakley glasses; however, when the geek is your cousin with Aspergers who uses his iPhone and iPad apps to communicate complex emotions because his brain is wired differently than yours, the word “emasculate” is a bit offensive.

And frankly, all technology can be emasculating, offensive and dehumanizing. Some think it’s scary. But we can’t seem to stop ourselves.

We are emasculated moths to a flame.