Gadget Culture and the Pursuit of Happiness

The late Steve Jobs has become a figurehead of our modern “gadget culture.” His ubiquitous “iThings” have bestowed meaning to our boring lives and profane identities and redefined the world for us. As everything is momentous now, we need to constantly search for more and often assign meaning to the simplest of things. We sanctimoniously accept that our modern existence as digital natives is ridiculed by Lolcats, which indulge in invisible objects and make fun of our skills, beliefs, desires and occupations, because in their own, linguistically-challenged way, they are in fact celebrating the endearing stupidities and idiosyncrasies of their “hoomanz.” There are accidental Internet celebrities, who move our hearts with “messages,” like Matt Harding, who has literally danced the “happy dance” around the world in our stead. While Lolcats hold up a mirror to a flawed humanity, Matt Harding and Steve Jobs have managed to “summarize” the world for us with however censored inventories. They also remind us that in times of GPS it is important to locate ourselves in the digitalized universe. In an era of intense discomfort, with disasters and apocalyptic visions all around us, iThings, memes and viral videos guide us through our lives and have taken on a central role in our daily pursuit of happiness.