Self-inflicted leash

            My friend was sporting a refurbished smart watch from a used web-based store. The smart watch had the capabilities of doing some of the major abilities that a smart phone can do, although you would need the smart phone on your person so that the watch could access the information. My wife was pickled green with envy, and so chose to buy a used one as well. Meanwhile, after purchasing the expensive item, my wife felt guilty and asked me to get one as well or at least upgrade my iPhone, considering I had an upgrade waiting for me to use. I explained to her that I would consider upgrading my rickety iPhone when starving people from Africa find it necessary to buy iPhones like food itself. When the smart watch came she was so smitten of the thing that for a couple of days she didn’t even try to sync the smart watch to her phone. Long story short, we both realized that Apple products do not sync with PC products—it was meant that way. So now we have this expensive paperweight and a guilt-stricken wife. To solve this very frustrating moment, I decided to use my iPhone upgrade to switch to a smart phone that would sync well with the smart watch; then, I would trade my new phone for her phone so that she could use her watch. We made it out to a store to help us with the upgrade but not without the opportunity of hearing the latest and greatest junk they had available. Turns out, people cannot stop talking of all the new-&-improved lumps-of-metal with dizzying lights and sounds that will bend to your every will! After everything was said and done, we made it back home and my wife ran to her corner with her new smart phone and smart watch to see all the pretty little things it could do. As I went to my corner of jimmy-rigged whatnots and my wife’s old iPhone5; then it hits me… I realized that none of my power cords, charging cases, iHomes and whatever iGadget I had once enjoyed, no longer fits with the iPhone5. If anybody hasn’t realized by now, technology conglomerates have installed an ancient-old technique under our watch and they really got us by the cojones, to the point that in recent events the US President explained that America have fetishized these products! Technology receives nothing more but praises in our daily life, historically speaking. Although, in recent years the industry developed a way to shut the doors of both hardware and software that would allow you to expand, reconfigure and improve the gadgets we own, as well as developed new gadgets that would force us to upgrade former products to current products—very sneaky! What we face is that we have several tech companies that we could choose from, but if we cross into another tech company’s product, it would be useless. If you don’t see this as a threat, consider this event: while in class I heard students belt out release dates, improved software and fancy designs of certain sugar-candied-lumps-of-metal gadgets that will be available; and then my teacher chimed in with his knowledge, as he dusted off his new iPad Mini. In disbelief, I explained that college students are already considered the future unemployed straight out of college statistically speaking for a short while; it takes time to find the right career. To purchase new hardware using your newly activated credit cards with incredibly high interest rates, as well as, having educators flaunt these new products, is simply throwing wood into a forest fire. Remember the gypsy curse: I wish you get what you want, and want what you get! Go ahead, take it …and PAY!