THE GADGET vs PERSONALITY

 Many years ago in the mid eighties or so I bought my first T.V set.  A black & white one with a wooden front.( it looked nice to see) The signals were poor as they were from an old-fashioned arrow like antenna. The grains, as big as grape fruits, danced endlessly on the screen. When I opened the T.V. the Doordarsan was showing an English film. It was a film named ‘The Train” Behind the macabre dances of big grains I found some train wagons moving forward and backward. It was exhilarating  really.The entire family watched it.  Television was rare at that time so neighbors started to come to see the programs and my house became a mini theatre.


 Did that gadget show my personality?  May be yes, for others might have conjured up that I love both entertainment and entertaining others and to that extent it reflected my personality

Now when the T.V got bigger and pictures got digitalized  no neighbor bothers to come to see it. It has become a common  gadget and there is no home without such consumer goods. As a result of it  it has also ceased to reflect my personality except (perhaps) projecting  that I am no different from others.

 A friend of mine does not use mobile phones. He thinks information or communication beyond a point is unnecessary. I think he reflects his peculiar personality by avoiding the gadget. I know it is not to be mentioned here while speaking about gadgets but I only intend to show how thoughts on personality works. 

It is not to say that gadgets do not reflect personality. One can show up one's personality both in a designer dress and in wearing a loin-cloth. Somerset Maugham said about  Bhagavan Sri.Ramana Maharshi :  “ although he wore only a loin cloth he looked like the best dressed man” The run-of-the mill products do not show the user’s personality. One has to exhaustively search and find a gadget that suits ones taste to enable it to show the user’s personality.

If mobile phones with Camera and music were rare, using the gadget would make one as a music lover or a lover of taking snap-shots. But when such mobile phones were abundant in the market it ceased to have any bearing on the personality of its owner.

To sum up the point, one must have unlimited liberty at choice to own gadgets that reflected ones personality. 


P.S. This post is written to participate in the contest sponsored M/S Dell India on " Change is easy" contest. Please see  http://bitly.com/inspiron.e