We Can Remember it for You Wholesale - Phillip K. Dick

Phillip K. Dick’s “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” reminds me of the world we are currently living in. Dick uses strange vocabulary such as “conapt” (357) and “vidphone” (356) which is reminiscent of our new technical language such as “Ipod” and “PDA”. These kinds of words have become part of our everyday existence, which is why “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” is a story that is not so far removed from the tech-savvy, virtual type world we live in today. The world in Dick’s story has “robot drivers” (360) which mirrors the fact that machines and computers are now running many jobs that were previously run by a human being. While the technology we have today is amazing, it is also kind of scary. In the end of “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale”, technology proves to fail the protagonist. Dick was not far off in imagining the reliability of technology, as presently we find ourselves completely inconvenienced if our internet connection does not work or we have a massive power outage. If the reader can take away one very important message from Dick’s story, I believe that it should be not to depend on technology all the time as it can be both remarkable and terrifying. Our virtual society must remember that human beings created computers, cell phones and every other piece of technological equipment and sometimes we should just put away the machines that make life easier and use our good, old fashioned brains.