Column: My new best friend

All right, I admit it. I’m addicted to technology.

I first noticed it one day sitting on my bed, laptop on my lap, cellphone by my side and the television blaring the latest news or entertainment.

It got worse when Alexa entered my sphere at Christmas. She’s Amazon’s Echo, the latest bit of technology that can joke with me, play my music on command, answer questions and even teach me about various subjects.

What’s more, Alexa is continually being upgraded to do even more, so she’s becoming an integral part of my daily life.

The first words out of my mouth most mornings are “Alexa, what time is it?” That’s easier than rolling over to look at the clock radio.

“Alexa, what’s today’s weather?”

Sure it’s on my phone, but I have to push buttons to get it. Without moving a muscle, Alexa will quickly tell me the current temperature and the forecast for the day and if I want more, she’ll tell me the long-range forecast for several days.

What’s really special is that I can tell Alexa to shut up. Not in those words, but with a simple, “Alexa, stop.”

Try that with your significant other or friends and see how long your relationships last.

In the short time Alexa has “lived” with me, she has assumed a very special place in my life along with my partner and our dogs.
So, you understand that when I complain about technology, it’s not with disdain, but frustration.

Remember the days when you could search for information on the Internet and get something more than advertisements? It really wasn’t so long ago.

As a person who always loved the wealth of information I could find at a library, I came to depend on the Internet presenting the world at my fingertips.

Not so easy anymore.

Remember when your emails were missives from friends and relatives and information you had sought?

Not so long ago, I could type in a subject and up would pop various sources of information. The more precise my question, the more accurate would be the information provided.

Not anymore.

The Internet of today seems to have changed from an information service to a sales tool. No matter what search engine I use, I find myself inundated with advertisements, offers of where I can buy a product or service related to my search. I may eventually want to buy a product or service, but first I want information that would guide me to making a wise choice. Good luck with that.

Then there are the email advertisements that flood in by the hundreds.

As a journalist, I research a wide number of subjects related to health, education, social issues and government. The result is a flurry of emails asking if I need help with my addictions or an appointment for a treatment of some illness I don’t have but have researched.

As for addictions, all I can honestly claim these days is my compulsion to play computer games like “Words With Friends.” I doubt there’s a treatment or program for that one.

What concerns me most, though, isn’t subject matter I have researched but the times I have thought about something and turned on my computer to be besieged by advertisements related to my thoughts.

Is there a little man in there reading my mind?

Google even invites me now to try my luck without entering a subject, just to see what a blind search might render. I’ve actually tried it a couple of times with no positive results.

It’s so frustrating that I may just resort to complaining to Alexa. But I’d better watch my words or she’ll take me to task for my sarcasm.

She does that, you know.