We Want it Yesterday

I saw snow for the first time in my life last year and I was absolutely ecstatic. This was during my exchange semester in Canada and though I expected it to snow at some point, I wasn’t prepared for just how amazed I would be. There I was, transfixed at how vividly it changed Vancouver’s ever-green landscape. Every exposed surface blanketed in a layer of soft fluffy snow. It was sublime.

Snow at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Photo credit: Sharon Masige

Originally, the word sublime referred to the feelings of awe one has in relation to natural wonders. However in this digital age, it has been adapted to the term ‘technological sublime’ which in turn means the way one reveres or gets excited over the latest technologies.

Western society is obsessed with the latest and greatest technology. This obsession has been called the ‘cult of the present’ where new phones, televisions, computers and so on are fetishized. It also relates to the idea of planned obsolescence where gadgets are built to be quickly replaced in a short amount of time. And it’s true. No one brags about having a flip phone these days…

But in our quest to get the next best thing, we tend to neglect what happens to all our ‘old’ technology. That brick computer or equally brick-like television has to go somewhere and though we may think they get recycled, in most cases they end up in developing nations. Much of the industrialised nations’ technological waste – or e-waste – is dumped in countries such as Ghana and India. Not only can this be done illegally, it also creates huge environmental and health problems.

Image credit: The Conversation

So what do we do?

Firstly, we have got to find other uses for this waste. I think we should try our best to hang on to our current technologies for as long as we can before buying a new one. An article in The Guardian even suggests putting the onus on tech giants to create products that last longer. And I agree. One company is even designing the Fairphone which they want to be long lasting and reusable.

I also think it’s time we developed technology that uses environmentally friendly products.

Biodegradable television anyone?