So while I’ve come down with a case of the geek plague, I’ve done more than just play around with my iPod touch and my laptop in bed. I’ve finally caught up with the bevy of DVR stuff I’ve managed to program into the hard drive of my little cable box. One of the series I’ve finally gotten around to watching is J.J. Abrams mindfuck, Lost.
I have to say the drama does have its charms. There’s a varied cast, they all get their moments in the sun, and the mysteries add to the value. Now I know I’m only a few episodes in, but, clearly there’s a problem here.
If there were some actual geeks on the island, they’d have been off of it by now.
I mean, c’mon, even in this remote part of the world, a geek would have found a way to get onthe net. They would have found a way to get their iPhones and PDAs and laptops online because they’re almost trained to be wired. The Internet is like water to geek folk – sure, we could live up to 2 weeks without food and a few days without water, but the internet? Try one hour or so.
There would be no need for fire because the reflection of bright, metallic portable devices would provide enough light to signal any rescue party. There would be no need to hunt and kill boars because someone would have looked up a wikipedia article on how to survive on plants, sand, and ocean water. And there would be no need to make a long term plan because geek friends,w eirded out over the lack of facebook and myspace and twitter updates from their marooned friends, would quickly utilize the power of IM, friends lists, and Google Maps to find and pinpoint their tech-savvy companions. The surviviors would have been home for dinner.
Alas, this isn’t the case, so we have to put up with Locke’s hunter-gatherer/mentor advice, Sayid’s makeshift triangulation antennae, and Sawyer’s version of eBay. But I suppose if the rescue happened too quickly, we wouldn’t have such an addicting, interesting, and dramatic series on our hands. They’re just lucky technology is somehow hampered.