An Unfinished Essay

If I ever decide to finish this, it'll be about the promising advent of technology and how its misuse can lead to our ultimate destruction. Or something like that.

Atlanta is being taken over by evil robots. The airport is, anyway. The most obvious infiltrators include a creepy egg-shaped travel clock that rocks back and forth incessantly, a massage char that clamps tight to the unsuspecting user's arms and legs before the massage begins, and an army of trash cans that periodically "eat" the trash to make room for more. Their eerie presence, reminiscent of old Sci-Fi thrillers, is both fascinating and terrifying.
But fear is most certainly not the reason for their existence. Each of these devices is meant to be helpful in some way. The clock, named "Bob" after its tendency to bob around, is multifunctional, sporting a clock, calendar, alarm, and world clock all in a conveniently-small, somewhat adorable egg-shaped container with a psychedelic multi-colored screen. The massage char, though scary at first, is relaxing enough to relieve the user of any torturous expectations, featuring many different programs of massage. Just don't try to get up before it's done. The trash cans help both the airport staff, which is no longer required to be so intensely vigilant about emptying trash cans, and the customers, who can now avoid those classically annoying messy situations where there's too much trash and not enough trash can. Just be careful not to drop something inadvertently into these trash compacters; you will never see it again.
All technological advances, designed to improve the quality of our lives, come with their share of benefits balanced with problems. Henry Ford's automobile, and its subsequent transformation into the modern car, was a brilliant invention that allowed people to go to new places faster than ever before. We began to develop wider social networks and broader tastes, as the truck enabled more efficient (and therefore cheaper) trade. However, not only is our heavy reliance on cars blamed for ozone layer depletion, greenhouse gas buildup, and therefore global warming, accidents, or "crashes," are the leading cause of death in most age groups, particularly the young teenagers who are just learning to use them.
Most, if not all, new developments carry a heavy learning curve. My grandfather is a smart man, but he was completely confounded upon his first encounter with a computer. He still does not quite understand how it even works, as is the case for a depressingly large amount of computer users. Most people can check their e-mail, surf the internet, and manage a few other programs and hardware (provided they are taught how). If problems arise, help is called in. Thus, we have become a generation not just of development, but of instructions. The people who know how things work write out simple instructions so that people who normally would be deprived of the technology can at least use it, even if they have no clue how it works.
But this creates a huge problem. Although instructions can allow someone to use a technology, they only go so far, leaving a use trapped in a world they don't understand. When something is not understood, it is much less likely to serve its purpose. Ask people how the internet works and few people will be able to give a true, comprehensive answer. Ask them why it was created, and the responses will be even more sparse. Admittedly, I do not know why the internet was created. However, I do know that its two most widespread uses: shopping and social networking, were not part of the original plan. The internet existed long before sites and programs like AOL, AIM, eBay, Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Facebook, and MySpace (to name a few).