Thank you Cameron Crowe for your return to the emotionally driven director that reaches deep into our hearts and reminds us of the values and ideals that bring us happiness and love. It is your vision that has inspired millions. For that and for the term used in the title, I thank you.

Now why am I ranting and raving about Cameron Crowe you ask?

We Bought a Zoo, the latest film by Cameron Crowe offered up the term IPocolypse and it fit perfectly with my latest message. For those of you that know me, I am a bit of a reversal of fortune when it comes to technological advancement. I am not starting a renaissance to stop advancement, but I am doing my part to delay the inevitable. It does not take years of scientific research to know that holding a mini computer (yes a smartphone is a mini computer) against your body 12 to 14 hours a day and next to you in bed all night will have an adverse affect on your health with its radiation release. Therefore, I do not have a cancer tablet, aka smartphone nor do I engage in Facebook. It is a slow evolutionary change but it has put me in a better place.

Give me a copy of The Philadelphia Story on VHS with Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant, a couple of candles and a warm comforter and you won my heart for the night.

What is IPocolyspse?

IPocolyspse is the destruction of mankind by way of technology. I certainly cannot foresee the future, but I have a theory that the smartphone is the transition stage from humanity to humanoid life. It makes sense. If all humans carry a mini computer 24/7, through the process of evolution, we will mold the two together to create a civilization of humanoids. Soon two will become one. The idea of human interaction with emotion will be replaced by programmed sensors sending impulses providing artificial intelligence, emotion, calculated reaction and implementation. The element of connection will be a catch phrase from the past and the simplicity of life will be replaced by a series of cyborg interfaces. I know this prediction is well into the future and will not affect us but for the next several generations, the future is questionable.

How much time are you spending with your smartphone, tablet or laptop?
Can you leave your phone at home?

There was a time when most of us had land lines and when we left home, there was a device called an answering machine that recorded anything we missed. My how times have changed. DVRs, Blue ray, surround sound, 3D, Wii, apps and games have all become our friends creating a society of alienated narcissistic loners. Maybe some are happy with this transformation, but this writer is not.

Writing is about release of human emotion. It is about the risk of opening up your heart and letting others inside the frailty that is humanity. The love letter, as ancient as it sounds, has a level of poetic justice that cannot be matched. It was a personal gesture from a prince to his princess in a time of chivalry. It was a declaration of unconditional commitment. Now we send a text saying “What’s up”, “wanna hang” or “we’re kickin it at the IMAX”. Its it similar, quicker, more efficient? Duh, yes but more efficient is not necessarily better.

In the age of computers, efficiency and speed is better.

Now we have a dilemma on our hands.
With the move to speed, availability and efficiency driving us away from human interaction and toward technology solutions is this where we really want to be?

Ask the lovers, the moms, the dads, the artists, the poets, the writers, the dreamers and I think you know the answer.

You can Photoshop a sunset over the ocean with the colors of the rainbow and post on Facebook and Google+ to see how many likes you get or you can lay out a blanket with someone you love and watch the sun slowly disappear under the ocean’s surface to rest for another night.

The future is up to you. It is up to each of us. I can’t stop the influx of smartphone and tablet users. I think many in the back of their mind know the cancer and health risks, but I can do my part to walk away and live the life I want to live.