The latest i-phone came out this last week and, as usual, the i-phone mega-fans and gadget maniacs surfaced to queue for hours to be the first the get their hands on one.

Now, while I love gadgets, I cannot understand how people justify queuing for days, sometimes in the rain or freezing temperatures to be the first to buy one. Its not like it will disappear after a the first day! Don’t these people work?

iphone queues in London

The sale of such a high-profile gadget always brings out the true nature of some people. Opportunists were actually selling spots in the queue on ebay, so that if you paid something like £50 – £80 someone would queue for you and hold your place until you can come at a more convenient time. How pathetic!

The device itself initially costs a bomb and don’t get me started on the monthly payments. And while I can understand the convenience of having your phone, music and video player in one gadget, is it worth it? Are we that consumed with entertainment that we HAVE to have these gadgets to satisfy our increasing need for escapism. Is life that bad we need to walk around filling our eyes and ears with images and sounds for the majority of our day? Maybe it is. And I cannot really blame anyone for wanting the device when the press and marketing for it makes you feel as though you NEED one. But the fact of the matter is, we don’t. And in this time where we can barely afford food and petrol, is it right to spend money on such a device? We all know that sooner or later you will have to repair it or buy batteries or other accessories for it so the actual total cost is higher then you think.

The entertainment industry is taking advantage of our need to be released from the pressures of our over-taxed, stressed life and our inability to know where our financial, mental and physical limits are. They offer us so much by way of entertainment, which results in us constantly filling our heads with gadgets and computer-based activities –  driving out our ability to spend time socialising with each other in a non intoxicated state, encouraging parents to sit their children in front of their PCs and TVs instead of (heaven-forbid!) spending time with them. 

Now it might sound like I’m completely against any form of modern entertainment, or like I’ve never owned a PlayStation or ipod! But its not the case at all. Even though I think manufactureres (and of course the media) take blatant piss out of us, it is actually down to the public themselves to make sure that they moderate their entertainment intake and try to monitor how it is effecting their behaviour. Standing for hours in the rain consitutes as OTT, strange, abnormal and obsessive behaviour to me.

If people cared so much about the more important issues in the world, we’d be much better off.