i don't want to be one of those fatalistic proponents of the ails of 'postmodern' society. they have their allure, i must say, particularly when the proposed theory is at its most extreme. for example, Baudrillard's idea that everything has become aestheticized. the penetration of the image into all spheres of existence. the saturation of language, etcetera etcetera. i think the allure comes from the fact that people like to think they're living as close to the edge of an apocalyptic transformation of the world as possible.
but then i was flicking through time magazine's best inventions of the year and i came to the following conclusions:

a) if the same amount of energy and cash that was spent in the fabrication of (for the most part) futile gadgets was spent on the fabrication of inventions directed at the betterment of living conditions for the vast majority of the world's population... you know the rest.

b) the majority of these seemingly futile gadgets can be seen as doing nothing but reinforcing the aforementioned aestheticization of modern society, whereby we will witness the directly proportional rise of boredom and alienation in an individual who is progressively losing the distinction between reality and construct, particularly when it comes to relationships: thanks to the explosion of new technologies of communication, these can be seen as being built on nothing but a ficticious sense of interconnectedness 'with the world' , but really hiding a profound sense of isolation, inner fragmentation, and loss of relationship with the natural sphere. of course this is only the apocalyptic side of the coin. no one ever buys it. the other side of the coin is:

c) we will, god permitting, soon be able to rest our tired little bodies on levitating matresses, appreciate the helpfulness of the sauvignon bot (this squeaky voiced robot will analyse the components of your bottle o' red and suggest a complementary cheese), float through life on a motorised inflatable pool lounger with incorporated joystick (!) and more. if that's not exciting news, i don't know what is.

d) cynicism aside, the process of inventing is great, the generation of ideas is great. and the hug-shirt is great. the prototype probably makes you feel like you're in a straightjacket and will most likely induce breast cancer later in life (along with the reinforcement of the idea that no, in the future you will no longer need any real human contact to feel a sense of warm fuzziness and love, we will be self sufficient automatons with indestructible vibrating hugshirts, floating matresses and possibly arnie accents (why not)),
but. i want one for my birthday. i mean look how happy she looks.