To judge or not to judge

From my earlier post on addiction to online gaming (See 'Recent Addiction'), I do have some understanding of the tantalising qualities of online gaming. But I'm not sure I have that much empathy to understand the story I read about the mother who neglected her children and family pets to play a game. Sure, I understand we all will at one point rely on technology in general but what leads a person to do such a thing that eventually leads to the deaths of their dogs in the 'real' world? How does a person become so disconnected from reality and the responsibilities of their physical world through the use of technology? Procrastinating an assignment by playing Bejeweled is one thing, to leave your kids starving is another.

Game and technology producers are continuously producing new gadgets and applications that further make such products appealing. The women or her children and family pets were one of the many victims of these advances. I am not blaming the companies that make such attractive products, it is a part of our consumer culture to buy into new techno products and test new gadets out. Instead it is their continuous alterations to for example laptops and i-Pods that may in this woman's case strengthen our ties to technology or in my relationship with the i-Pod Touch, plain ol' irritate us.