This is only tangentially related to my ongoing ‘Freedom Lover’s Critique of America‘; but tangent does mean touching in Latin, so this does touch the topic:
I am staying in a very American sort of place: The owner has gone out of his way to provide “conveniences”, and in America that usually involves screens–nowadays of the flat-panel variety. They must be in every room, so that you don’t ever have to miss out. Other devices must be connected to the screens so that you need not compromise on your entertainment options. You must, you see, have choice. (More on the paradoxical effect of choice on freedom here.)
And so I opened a drawer. It turned out to be the mother lode of complexity metaphors in American life. All you need to enter this American paradise was contained therein. I thought of the number of remote controls, then the number of buttons, then the number of permutations. But I’m not that good at math.
I savored the irony, then closed the drawer and opened a book.
Hannibal and Me: life lessons from history 
I hope they’re all there for storage purposes and they’ve invested in a universal remote!
Nope. That was ONE room’s worth!! Screens, DVD players, VCRs, and who knows what else. In fact, later I tried to turn on the TV to watch the news. I couldn’t turn it on! You first have to turn one thing one, then switch anther thing to a certain mode….
So I read the news on my iPhone instead. Man, and those media barons are surprised that younger generations are tuning out….
AK:
I am overgadgeted myself. I know that this blog allows me to be on my iPhone and use my mind too. The Kindle has that too. Dual purpose of having a screen and reading. When your book comes out I am getting the hard cover. It wouldn’t be right somehow to read it on a screen.
Best
Steve