Real people take an honest look at how technology affects their lives.

Rochel
When I think back to my childhood, I remember my mother standing by the kitchen counter making supper with the phone cradled in her neck. She was talking to her friends, relatives, and answering tzedakah calls. Other than those times that she was on the phone, she was available for me. I wonder what my kids think of their childhood… How do they look at me? I know that I am on my cell phone a lot. Is it the same thing?

Mordechai
 About ten years ago, when I saw someone emailing during chazaras hashatz in shul, I couldn’t get over the concept of him sitting there — like, are you texting G-d?? And I think back to that every so often as I text during davening. I know I’m not as vigilant as I should be these days. I don’t have any good justification here; it’s just too easy when you hear that ping to look down and then fall into the habit…

*******

Hash tags and apps and emojis and social media: the world of 2018.

Whether we like it or not, technology is here to stay. But that doesn’t mean our free choice is gone and that we must go with the flow of the technology-obsessed world around us. We can take a stand, have a long, hard look at technology and at what it does to us, and then decide for ourselves whether or not we will submit to the lure of the smartphone and all that comes along with it.

In TechTalk, that’s exactly what Malka, Sarit, Mina, Zahava, Rochel, and Mordechai did.

These six brave souls kept a running journal of their use of technology and their thoughts and feelings about it, over the course of a year-and were astounded at their discoveries through their journeys. No, they weren’t throwing out their phones or cutting themselves off from society at the end of the “experiment” yet each of them, being honest, thinking individuals, found tremendous room for growth as they explored their inner world via these journals.

You, too, can gain much inspiration and food for thought from their candidness. For all those seeking an honest take on the affect of technology in our lives, TechTalk is a true must-read!

From the author of 6 Diaries, Aliza Feder