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Her.meneutics is edited by associate editor Katelyn Beaty and online editor Sarah Pulliam Bailey.

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April 12, 2010

iHave an iPad, But at What Cost?

Perhaps technological advances are challenging spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, contemplation, and waiting to hear from the Lord.

Amy Julia Becker

We don’t watch much television in our household, but my husband and I both find ourselves wed to the computer. I was looking through a photo album with our daughter last week, and we came across one from her infancy. She’s swaddled in a pink and white striped blanket, asleep on a pillow between her dad and me. The camera, wielded by my mother, caught both of us on our laptops, typing away. Penny is 4 now, and her teachers tell me that when she sits at the computer in their classroom, she doesn’t want to play games like the other kids. She wants to type. Or, as she explains, “I want to work like Mom and Dad.”

iPad.jpg

As of last week, our gadgetry consisted of two laptops, two iPhones, an iPod, an iPod Nano, and an older iPhone that we handed down to our children. Even William, 20 months old, is becoming adept at sliding his thumb across the little screen to navigate toward photographs or games. Our kids will grow up with touchscreens as a cultural assumption, as normal as eating soup with a spoon or driving to the store in a car or sleeping in a bed.

Now we have an iPad. As far as I can tell, it’s a big and very impressive iPhone. It’s a little heavy, but it moves more quickly than any computer I’ve ever seen. We watched Lost on it last week. The picture quality was clear. The screen never skipped or froze, as it often does when we watch on a laptop. As a viewing experience, it was great.

Yet I have to wonder: at what cost? Somehow my husband convinced his employer to buy the iPad for him, so we didn’t shell out the $499. (Last year, he convinced them to buy him a Kindle, so we have that too.) I still haven’t seen his written rationale for the purchase. He tells me the iPad is the wave of the future. He says it will replace laptops and change the way information travels. And he may be right.

But before we ride that wave to wherever it carries us, I want to stop and think about it. Before the invention of the telegraph in the mid-1800s, information could travel only as fast as a human being could deliver it, by horseback or train or foot. Now information travels immediately. I have an iPhone. As a fairly disciplined person, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to resist the temptation to check my e-mail while sitting at a stoplight, waiting to meet a friend for lunch, or even walking across the campus where we live. I wonder how much knowledge of my surroundings I miss every day as a result of my increasing obsession with the screen.

I wonder how much my use of technology inhibits the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I think particularly of the fruit of patience. I wonder how much my iPhone inhibits contemplation and prayer, disciplines of turning my heart towards God and waiting for a response to come. I wonder how much it inhibits submission to God’s time. Even the name of all these devices — the emphasis on the individual, the implicit elevation of “I” above all else — gives me pause. Apple’s logo, after all, reminds us of Adam and Eve’s choice to become like God. Are the iPod, iPhone, and iPad more of the same?

I don’t think that using technology is inherently sinful, or that Apple is an evil company, or that I need to rid our household of all these devices. Technology in and of itself is value-neutral. The ways in which we use it are where matters of moral judgment come in. Perhaps I should write a list of rules for myself in how to approach my iPhone, rules for my husband in how to juggle his various iDevices. Rules such as, Keep the phone away from the driver’s seat, even when stopped. Or, keep the phone out of the playroom with the kids. Or, never walk and type at the same time. But I’d rather state what I’m for than what I’m against. Walk outside and notice the birds and the trees. Drive with caution out of love for yourself and your neighbor. Be present to your children. And, finally, keep in step with the Spirit of God, not the spirit of the age.

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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey on April 12, 2010 8:39 AM

Comments

I often say that walking into my home is like walking into an Apple store (it's true, add to your list -- a 21" desktop iMac, an additional iPod, and even an Apple TV -- yep).....sans the iPad.

I can't convince myself to do it. I keep thinking that between the laptop and the iPhone, I have what I need. (I do think your husband may be right, though. I anticipate uses such as textbooks in the education field and medical records transmitting back rather than doctors charting, etc.)

But I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it.....for a few reasons. (One of which is that *always* being one of those 'have-to-buy-it-on-the-first-day-early-adopter-people has not really paid off in the long run as less expensive devices at less cost generally come out within a year.)

The main one, though, was I started asking myself questions that you're asking. I had a blog I'd written for 3 years that led to writing for other publications. I had a nice-sized following on Twitter, and so on. And I dropped it all about three months ago and just.....started over.

It wasn't just feeling that I needed to step back from being constantly connected so that the Spirit could work more in my life, it was also being more conscious and more selective about who and what I was connecting TO.

Yeah. I had a ton of followers on Twitter. But then I'd be sucked into conversations or trading songs through Blip that, while fun and entertaining, was probably time that could have been spent better elsewhere -- or with God.

As I re-enter the foray, I'm trying to balance the benefits with boundaries.
deb

Posted By: Deb Owen | April 12, 2010 12:33 PM

I recently bought an iPad and think its a useful tool. Everyday I use it to read self development material and send my morning and evening prayers. I think the its how you use the technology. It is the bettering yourself and others around you that counts. Both technology and the air we breathe are great metaphors for God's omnipresence and constant expansion. As we take in so we give out. Use technology to make a better world.
Marvin Molina
http://www.lightmeacandle.com

Posted By: Marvin Molina | April 12, 2010 1:45 PM

here's a good prayer that illuminates this for me:

"Lord, please teach me patience. And please hurry up. I need it right away!"

Posted By: Eric | April 12, 2010 2:33 PM

Excellent post. I am one of those early adopter types. Especially with apple products. I am actually responding on my iPad now. I completely agree that all of this technology in our lives can have the potential to separate us from the beauty that is all around us. It can also give us a false sense of community and personal connection. The goal is to not replace true human connection with Facebook friends and Twitter followers, but to use those as tools to strengthen our relationships and lives.

For example, I have found that having an iPad has made me read far more than I was before. When I have the bible and many books at my finger tips all the time, when I am killing time, I find myself reading a book rather than playing a pointless game on my phone. I think this is a positive thing.

Posted By: Chris McLeod | April 12, 2010 6:39 PM

I'll confess that what I thought as I read your post was, "Great! I'll get to ask her if it's easy to type on and might work as a traveling alternative to a laptop!"
(And I do plan to ask)

But your point about what we miss as we stare at the screen is well-taken. I fasted from FB & Twitter for Lent and was delighted at how free I felt. Yes, there were bored moments where I longed to scroll through posts of others' observations. But for the most part, the extra mental space was a real gift. Now, post-Easter, I'm working out how to balance this new awareness with the lure of the screen.

Posted By: Trish Ryan | April 13, 2010 10:23 AM

I think Apple is over-rated and I think itunes is the worst invention for music, it's a pain to use and I thought apple was trying to make it easier for people to use but they fail on this. I have a MS Zune and the software is so much better - all you do is drag and drop the music you want on your mp3 player!! I think apple is like the status quo people buy it to show their wealth like people buying bmw's or audi's. It's sad because there are other product that work just as well but people get sucked into the mass media and don't do their research. All they think is... they see everyone else has one, so they go out and buy one. Goes to show you that sometimes people can't think for themselves which is sad. Get sucked into the mass media, just like we get sucked into twitter and our relationships with people aren't the same!!! I think apple is a very selfish product, it's always about "me" or I this I that.... I like knowing what I install on my computer and being able to customize it the way I want. Apple is over-rated!!!!

We can't give up on real human face to face contact, talking face to face or on the phone is so much better than being on facebook or txting, that's so impersonal and selfish I think.

Anywas besides that, it's all in moderation on how much time you spend on the computer compared to the time you could be spending with loved ones or with people who are in need. Turn it off and get into the "real" world.... stop the madness!!!

Posted By: John B | April 13, 2010 11:44 AM

I'm a guy and got here because I saw the headline on Christianity Today, so I hope it's appropriate for me to post a comment. I'm wondering, since I'm not married, is there any relation between increasing/decreasing intimacy in marriage and the reliance on gadgets such as the iphone, ipad, etc.? I suspect there is, and that intimacy would decrease, since you necessarily spend less time talking, though that's only my guess.

Posted By: Craig | April 13, 2010 12:48 PM

Craig - I say there is definite potential for decreased intimacy in marriage.

I agree that to some extent technology is "neutral" - it depends how you use it. However, just the existence of the computer in our home is a temptation to use it. I know one couple who doesn't have the internet at home, just at work, and personally I envy them! How much more time must they spend together! Sometimes the best method is just to remove the source of temptation entirely, as the Bible teaches, instead of leaving it there in front of you, and relying solely on your own will to not give in to it. Unfortunately I need the internet at home for my job, so the above is not really an option.

Posted By: Nadine | April 14, 2010 11:03 AM

I think all these gadgets are one piece of a whole when it comes to technologies and screens in general. So I don't think they make intimacy any more or less difficult than a TV. In all cases, though, they should prompt us to consider voluntary restrictions for greater joy in our lives.

I can't speak to the ease of typing on the iPad yet, but it is much lighter, smaller, and more beautiful than a laptop!

Amy Julia

Posted By: Amy Julia | April 14, 2010 4:19 PM

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