two.

Technology.

Techonolgy is simply wonderful. Constantly evolving and changing, moulding and shaping the world around us so that everything in our lives now has an element of mechanisation involved. Here's a simple example:

You wake up in the morning to turn your favourite song off on the alarm you set for 7:25am on your cell phone. Groggily, you stumble to the bathroom, where you set about brushing your teeth with what six months ago was considered the best electronic toothbrush on the market, but now considered obsolete - thanks to a new pulse technology that dislodges plaque from teeth with small ultrasound frequencies - which you intend to buy next week. Stepping into the shower, you barely notice that the showerhead has been produced to create the best feeling, most even shower, designed to drench your body almost completely as you stand under the stream, scrubbing clean with a sponge specifically designed to produce a thicker, more efficient lather. Finally, finished at last, and after shaving with a sonic razor that sends electronic pulses out to the hairs to raise them for a smoother shave, you towel yourself off with an egyptian cotton towel, the fabric wound and spun into the object by machines, to make the longest lasting towel available on the market.

You see my point? Technology, and the products of technology are all around us. Even the keyboard I'm typing this blog with is a simple marvel of technology. Think back perhap twenty years: do you think people would have expected companies like Samsung to create 3D-TV sets? Could people have contemplated the assimulated realities we see in games like Half Life, Final Fantasy, and Halo? Would it even have entered people's minds that they would be able to surf the internet - an idea newly released unto the world - on a mobile phone?

No, it would not.

The possibilities for this world with current technologies are huge.

But so are the possibilities for the big companies to 'cash in'.

Case in point. My cell phone came with a set of headphones. Music on a mobile is common these days, so most think nothing of it. My mother's cell is much the same, coming with much the same gear. Hers is a Samsung, mine is an LG.

Both came with exactly the same parts, exactly the same accessories, and are exactly the same size and weight (when rounded off). Why, then, is every single hole and port on these contraptions different? The charger slot is different, the battery is a different size...if both came with the same equipment, why on earth can't they have the same outward design?

Most people would tend to argue that it's to give the device a feeling of individuality. "If everyone had the same phone, there wouldn't be any change advances in techonology" is one argument I've heard before, and "I don't want this phone, I want to have a phone that no-one else has!".

The truth - and it is a very simple fact - is that if you were designing a piece of technology, you can't use what is already available. Not because of cosmetic value, but for profit. Why on earth would you create a mobile that uses the exact same charger as another rival company? Why would my make it the same as other phone's you made? Money, money, money.

Here's a scenario. You lose your phone charger. No-one else you know has that charger, at least no-one nearby. You know your local outlet is open and accessible, and you know that you're running out of time. What do you do? You buy a new charger.

Your headphones stop working suddenly. You suspect it to be a design fault. You also know that no-one around has a set to lend you. You know your local outlet is open and accessible. What do you do? You buy new headphones.

Your MP3 player breaks after a sudden fall. The past three years of your musical tastes is lost suddenly. You know it will probably cost more to fix it than to buy a new one. You know yoru local outlet is open, you know you have the money for a new one, and you know you can get there before closing time. What do you do? You buy a new MP3. A different model, a different company, and inevitably lots more equipment.

And what are you meant to do with the stuff you are left with? A charger that is now redundant, a set of headphones that will fit nothing else, various accessories that you cannot swap into or onto your new phone. Nobody will buy them from you, vendors are unlikely to take them off of you, and only certain recycling points will take them from you.

But, ethically speaking, is it 'right' for companies to spend so much time and energy waisting materials that are finite on this earth to draw more money from the consumer? Is it economically correct to be milking the consumer for every penny when the world economy is so terribly shot?

I am no economic expert, but I do know that kids love their technology. Parents in poor economic positions will often put their neck on the block just to see their child(ren) happy., Games consoles, laptops, iPods, cell phones, they'll buy anything for their young ones. And that leads to terribly spoilt brats wandering around schools, showing off all their technology, breaking things just so that they can get new things, and often not thinking about money.

I understand now how big an issue money is. In four months I should be a university student. Money is tight enough as it for my parents, and I know that my student loan will be small, thanks to a major problem in the university economy. Every penny counts. I don't have the money to buy a new phone, I don't have the moeny to buy a new MP3 player. I don't have the money to keep up with the times.

And I don't have the patience for spoilt brats.