Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
It sounds like a strange concept that the Disney company that is primarily targeted towards young children but loved by adults around the world, and is predominately responsible for giving many a false view of love that will have undoubtedly ruined the dating lives of many could predict the future.
However given the recent news that two more big high street stores; HMV and Blockbuster have entered administration this week adding to a list that includes Jessops, Comet, Woolworths and many more, you only have to look at the Disney/Pixar hit Wall-E to see where we may be heading.
In the film the human race has been evacuated to a space ship where they fly around all day on floating chairs hooked up to what is quite obviously the internet, watching films, television and listening to music all day because the earth has been destroyed due to mass consumerism. Now this mass consumerism that has destroyed the planet in Wall-E could be seen as happening because of the very invention that keeps them so greatly entertained, the Internet.
Yes that's right, in statements this week from both HMV and Blockbuster they've mentioned that their custom has been greatly affected by the internet with many choosing to stay indoors and shop on Amazon for the latest DVD, game and music releases instead of heading somewhere such as HMV, or if they have chosen not to buy a film they've instead opted to stream it from LoveFilm or Netflix rather than renting from Blockbuster.
Yes that great invention has truly changed the way we live, we no longer have to leave the house to buy anything as we can get clothes, games, music and even our food delivered straight to our doors thanks to the option of buy online. We don't even have to go out to meet new friends thanks to social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, and if we decide we want to meet a boyfriend or girlfriend there's no need to go out and awkwardly eye up the nearest available person as the internet is littered with dating websites filled with "hot singles" in your area that are just waiting to chat.
Yes it is quite a sad state of affairs when you see these great high street stores disappearing. I for one will be greatly saddened if HMV does in fact vanish from shopping centres and the high street alike, their website has already been disabled due to their current issues, and it all seems to have happened because the internet has given us the ability to be lazy and opt for convenience in every aspect of our daily lives.
For some people one of the main reasons they leave the house is to go to work, but with computers giving us access to work information and the ability to work from home, I wonder if going to the office will one day just mean sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in your pyjamas communicating work stuff via email and telephone?
It also brings up the issue of whether we will continue to go out for meet ups with friends and family, after all what's the point when Face Time or Skype could allow everyone to have a night out together from the comfort of their own living rooms? Provided that you have a good Internet connection and your supermarket of choice delivered your wine on time.
Yes the Internet is a brilliant creation and we wouldn't know what to do without it now as it has made everything so much easier. But what's happening is a very sad and unnerving state of affairs, and maybe we won't end up in a space ship hovering above the earth waiting for a plant to be sent up inside a robot in the way that Disney foretold. But sitting in isolation communicating and doing everything via an Internet connection, like the morbidly obese in the animated hit, could become a dreaded reality if we aren't careful.
After all we may only be a few shop closures away from the high streets of Great Britain resembling old western films with tumbleweeds taking the place of the almost extinct high street shopaholic.
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