Gadgets – How can we not love them?!

We live in a technological world and are completely surrounded by various devices and gadgets. Wherever we look, we find a technological invention and a device used for some purpose.

The question is whether we need so many different devices and if we could do without them. Of course, we could not anymore. Would you know how to ‘kill time’ on a long bus or plane journey without, for example, an electronic game, one on a notebook or mobile device? Or without an iPod or iPhone on which you listen to your favorite music? Do you have the will to travel to a destination with your elementary school children without electricity, television, or a computer connection, or are you aware that they would drive you crazy out of boredom? After all, would you endure that vacation without checking your favorite smartphone or browsing your emails?
Although it may seem that there are larger and smaller lovers of electronic gadgets, we have all become dependent on them. Everyone has at least one to which they have almost an emotional relationship, whether because it meets their aesthetic, value, hobby, pragmatic, or business needs.
There are many reasons for the feelings people develop towards gadgets. For many, it is simply about making their lives easier and allowing them to do what they otherwise could not. However, we love them even when these devices lead us to do things we would not normally be interested in, but we engage with them simply because they are at our fingertips. There are also aesthetic reasons (who today is not proud of their latest smartphone, especially if it has a customized design?) and a lot of fun that seemingly simple, yet strong and interestingly designed USB sticks provide.

Gadgets have made our lives more comfortable and practical, changed its standards, and become inevitable. However, we do not use them only because they help us with, for example, mathematical calculations, doing laundry, brewing coffee, managing the central system of a smart home, or guiding us to the right address – many we love precisely because they allow us entertainment and play. One of the most important aspects among popular gadgets is their function of entertainment. Today’s gadgets have become loyal companions to people, metal friends who can entertain or engage you when you are lonely or when you want to take a break from everyone around you. We love them as children love their toys, mostly digital today, and we increasingly incorporate them into our daily obligations. Therefore, we love them for various reasons: from practicality to entertainment to the status we gain through them.
This is nothing new: until about 30 years ago, we loved and highlighted our first music devices, turntables, cassette players, music amplifiers, or first computers, then first electronic organizers, etc., devices that sound like technological dinosaurs to your descendants, the youth born alongside computers and smartphones. And although the cycles of one device being replaced by another took longer, the reasons for the passion were the same as today: curiosity, functionality, and entertainment, as well as keeping pace with the rhythm of time.

Which gadgets interest them in adulthood, technology enthusiasts have confided to us. Along the way, they revealed secrets about their first love.

DUBRAVKO PUHELEK, director of Micronis
– My first love was a digital watch that I received for my confirmation from my godfather, it was about 30 years ago. I was thrilled with many buttons. Then came LSC games, and in 1985 I got my first home computer, the Atari 800 XL. Although I am now fully in the computer business, my first gadgets actually illuminated my love for electrical engineering. I loved assembling devices from components, making electronic circuits, ‘blinkers’, sirens, radio stations. I made my first music amplifier myself, even making a tin case for it. That play and curiosity in childhood have followed me throughout my life, but today I am certainly much more pragmatic and choose only what makes my life easier. My main, indispensable gadgets are the Samsung Galaxy F3 smartphone and the Lenovo T430 notebook with an SSD and a 14-inch screen. They are my connection to the world, work, my planner, address book, and basic tool. However, since I plan to build a house in my hometown, around Zelina, I am now exploring quite different gadgets, those I will need in building a smart and passive house.

DAMIR HORVAT, co-owner of the Dobra Vina wine shop:
– My first device that I was immensely proud of was given to me by my father, it was a Dual turntable. It was the early 70s. Because of it, I was a big ‘shot’ among my friends in class, everyone came to my place to listen to records. Because of that passion, my friends and I made our first ‘light show’ from collected components back in the mid-70s. Then, as a classical guitar student, I fell in love with the electric Yamaha, but also the Gibson Les Paul. And I remember my first computer, the Commodore 64. I am actually very curious about technology, but I choose it and love it solely for its function. I perceive gadgets as accelerators of my work or activities and love them as much as they help me in life. Of course, I cannot imagine life and work today without my iPod, Blackberry, or Skype, but currently, I love my culinary gadgets the most. I recently bought a steamer that everyone in the family loves. The food is excellent, and the cooked ingredients are healthy and tasty. Given that we have not exhausted and discovered all the possibilities, it is still interesting, fun, and inspiring for exploration.