The problem is technology

If you are wondering why more people aren’t sailing these days, this excerpt from an article on Soundings Trade Only believes that the problem is technology:

Computers. Cell phones. Texting. E-mail. Aren’t they all great inventions that are making our lives better? Not so fast. Sure, these innovations are causing us to interact faster and, probably, with more people than ever before. But, the truth is we’re now recognizing this interaction is apparently at the expense of good old fashion face-to-face time and experiences.

Take, for example, e-mail. These days, we’re e-mailing all day long from our computers, according to John Freeman, author of The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox. In a recent poll conducted by AOL, almost 60 percent of the respondents admitted they have even checked their email while in the bathroom. We glance at it mid-conversation. It’s the first and last thing we do each day. Could one say we’re addicted?

But here’s the problem, says Freeman. The more we e-mail, the more e-mail we get. And, the more e-mail we get leads to more time spent . . . well, e-mailing! Studies show that those hours spent typing away don’t come from the workday or TV viewing, but from time with our families.

To e-mail, let’s add the DVR as another great invention that’s robbing families of interpersonal time. According to Freeman, a recent study by the Nielsen Company revealed TV viewing has reached an all-time high of 151 hours per month. Blame the DVR, he contends, at least in part. It makes it so easy to capture any program, including many we think we might be interested in, for later viewing. The result - more hours parked in front of the tube watching all the stuff we’ve saved.

Many sociologists now worry that modern technology is resulting in less and less quality time sharing good experiences with loved ones and friends. Heck, nowadays, instead of actually talking with a friend on the cell phone, we let our thumbs do the talking and just text! Whatever happened to simply enjoying time together, you know, face-to-face?