The Onion is a hilarious and astute site dedicated to the fine art of satire. Someone recently sent me a link to one of their articles, entitled 'Apple Unveils New Product-Unveiling Product’. It definitely deserves a read, even if for nothing more than its entertainment value.

This article is a great parody. What is a great parody? Those which present humour at surface value and critical social commentary at a deeper level. Sometimes the humour is lightly sprinkled over the serious underlying issue, and other times lavishly drenched. It is the serious component however, that is the reason for the parody’s existence. In the case of the Apple article, the apparent absurdity of the concept at first humours us, and then makes us think more deeply – of our sometimes extreme dependence on automated devices to survive in this day and age. This is complemented by another worrying aspect: what are the limits of automation? What is the saturation point of this technology-hungry world? When does it all become too much?

It is generally accepted that automation no longer warrants large amounts of awe. We have, in fact, integrated automated devices into our lives so casually that we have somehow failed to notice the true gravity of the situation – a ‘situation’ with many repercussions.

Repercussions. What are they? More often than not, a foreign concept when thought of in terms of all the apparent positivism bestowed upon us by technological advancements. But it is at this point that it is important to start asking questions, such as “Where do we draw the moral and ethical line when we know that almost anything is possible?” as well as “How does our desperation for technological advancement affect personal and general social and cultural development?”

These are questions I’d like answered. Any takers?