Boys and Their Toys

Acknowledgments

Iwant to thank Lafayette Radio Electronics, a store in the ’40s in Manhattan where I spent a lot of my childhood. For a boy who liked toys, Lafayette Radio Electronics was the place to be. I could get stuff there, every now and then, allowance permitting. But it was also a place of dreams: From barometers to walkie-talkies, Lafayette Radio Electronics was a wonderful land. Alas, the store is no more, replaced not as much by giant consumer electronic companies as by the rapid pace of technology.

As I write these words, cell phones, MP3 music players like the iPod, and digital cameras are beginning to become one. You can buy a device that lets you talk to anyone on the planet, lets you send that person a picture or short video of what you’re describing on the phone, and then lets you listen to your favorite tunes when you’re done. But while such a device is an adequate cell phone, it is only a so-so digital camera, and it is also limited in the number of songs it can hold. My brother-in-law, Richard, says it will take six years until there’s a single device that does it all, but it may be sooner.

Meanwhile, between now and when all we’ll need is one gadget to do everything, there will be lots of new gadgets to consume. And I want to profoundly thank all the technology companies for making all of this possible. Without Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Palm, Microsoft, Apple, Oregon Scientific, Panasonic, Black & Decker, John Deere, BMW, Nokia, LG and all the other consumer electronic, car, and gadget companies, well, I’d be spending more time talking with my family. But what about?

Still, a number of bona fide human beings helped me shape this book, and I want to take a moment to thank them. Thanks to:

Peggy, for understanding that there’s no possible way that the income for this book will overcome a lifetime of spending on gadgets.

My children, Karen and Claire, for understanding that along with the dark side of gadgets, comes a plus: They know that they can call on me to fix their computers, a skill that’s worth its weight in gold on the night before a school paper’s due.

Ellen Kadin, my editor, who was simply amazing.

Niels Buessem, who made many of my grammatical inventions actually resemble English.

Jeanne Welsh, who’s always there in a big way when I need help.

The people of the city of Hong Kong for undoing my writer’s block.

Also, a number of people chatted with me in person and online and I want to express my gratitude to them for sharing their thoughts on boys and their toys. In no particular order they are: Julia Beizer, Brian Livingston, Andy Pargh, Gabe Goldberg, Julie Flanders, Yelena Vegera, Larry Kahaner, Richard Robin, Mark Lewyn, Fred Lewyn, Doug Ritter, Anita Baise, Nick Gimbrone, Christie Morissette, Siobhan Green, and Jim Peters. If I forgot anyone, I’m sorry, and that’s probably because of a software glitch.

Introduction

Men have a special relationship with their toys—pocket tools, laser pointers, communication devices, sports gear, exercise equipment, cars, remote controls, and electronic organizers. Only by understanding how and why men have such passion for their toys, can women (or significant others) comprehend, manage, enhance, and maybe even control their relationships with their husbands, boyfriends, or lovers. And by understanding this relationship, men can also better understand themselves. Men actually don’t view toys as a substitute for relationships; neither do men look at women or their relationship as if it were just another gadget. Toys are, for men, a reflection of their personality. It’s commonly accepted that men like gadgets because there’s no risk or worry in a relationship with a Swiss Army knife.

The relationship between men, gadgets, and women is much more complex than that—and very revealing about men.

Boys and Their Toys: Understanding Men by Understanding Their Relationship with Gadgets will explain the intricacies of the triad: men, women, and gadgets. The topics included in this book are:

✓ The Need for Freedom. The cell phone, smart phone, wireless PDA, and subcompact notebook computer are symbols and tools of freedom. Men need to feel that they are untethered; whether they actually use their electronic organizers, the mere fact that they own one makes men feel mobile. A man can put all his important information in a tiny device, and then just go (whether he actually goes anywhere or not.) It is the feeling of instant mobility that is important.

✓ The Need for Power . The laser pointer provides a feeling of power. Laser pointers are among the most popular gadgets because they give men a sense of authority, influence, strength—they are like the laser light sticks in Star Wars . Men want to seem powerful and gadgets often enhance that sensation. SUVs, high-speed Internet connections, and power riding mowers are also manifestations of the need for power.

✓ The Need for Independence . The GPS (global positioning system) is the gadget for not having to rely on anyone. The joke that men will never ask for instructions is as true as it is funny. With devices like the GPS and wireless services that provide maps, hotel reservations, and airline ticketing, men don’t need to rely on others.

✓ The Macho Need for Ego Boosting . Toys are ego boosters. The fanciest car, the smallest video camera, the most expensive (or function-laden) watch, the fastest computer—all of these let men boast without having to utter a word. In their youth, many men used to crow about their sexual conquests; these gadgets are a safe substitute (or addition) for that. Men use gadgets to impress each other. Sword fighting, arm wrestling, and drinking contests are out as ways to prove manliness; more expensive watches and faster computers are in.

In some indefinable way, gadgets are both a reflection and a component of men’s egos. Men use gadgets to show off: Gadgets are a way to display wealth, power, intellect, and impeccable taste. But men are also defensive about their toys: When a man purchases a gadget, he’s proclaiming that it’s a good gadget and that his decision to purchase and use that gadget was a wise one. Criticize or ridicule that gadget, and you’re criticizing and ridiculing the man. Witness this message, posted in reply to a message I posted critiquing a cell phone I’d purchased and decided to return because it was clunky to operate and had paltry memory:

i guess i got a different model of the 8125, cuz i keep all my applications on my MiniSD and all my pics/videos/mp3s . . . and i have no memory problem. and my battery lasts all day easily with heavy usage. and apparently u didnt even try, cuz with a few minor adjustments, one handed use is a breeze.

So be forewarned: A man and his gadget are inseparable in more ways than one. Tread gently.

✓ Gadgets Lure Women . Or so men think. Fancy cars, multifunction watches, great hiking boots, cool stereos—all these, men think, impress women. Is a man’s array of gadgetry like a peacock’s magnificent tail in the eyes of the peahen? Probably not, but this doesn’t change men’s belief that many women are attracted by a man’s gadgets, or his capability to possess many gadgets.

✓ The Need to Fidget . Men often have short attention spans. Men need to be restless. Gadgets enable men to be distracted. Television remote controls are the classic fidget-gadget. To some extent computers (and the Internet), PDAs, and cellular telephones also are an outlet for men’s short attention spans. But rather than being harmful to the man-woman relationship, this restlessness can actually enhance the relationship. Men can focus their short attention spans on toys, and reserve their longer attention span time for the important things—their spouses or girlfriends.

✓ The Need to Relieve Stress . Playing with their toys is more than a way for men to relax, it is a way for men to calm themselves. Like women, men get stressed out, but unlike women, they don’t like to talk about it. Rather than talk about their doubts and dilemmas, many men would prefer to let their problems simply slip away while playing with the latest micro-complex watch.

✓ The Need for Novelty . With people, this need often leads to very brief relationships. But married men—and those in committed relationships—also like novelty. However, the consequences of going out and finding a new sexual partner every week are not exactly good for the current relationship. So the newest titanium golf club, or latest radar detector (often replacing one purchased just last year), provide men with their need for newness.

✓ The Need to Hold On to Boyhood . When women become mothers, they get the chance to re-experience parts of their childhood by playing with their babies, dressing their children, or showing them off to their friends. Men use their gadgets to relive their childhood. As children, we had great and glorious toys, and unwrapping the latest UPS arrival reminds us of the joy we experienced unwrapping our childhood holiday presents. Few men would be seen playing with Lincoln Logs, but building a remote-controlled airplane is an adult hobby that is just as much fun as any childhood pastime.

✓ Men Want to Look Good . While women have makeup and diets (most diet books are bought by women) to experiment with different self-images, men have exercise equipment. Men are concerned about their body image and express this need through the use of exercise devices. Men are much less open about their need to look good; however, they are often keen on exploring how exercise gadgets can improve their looks. Men also feel that doing things like pulling a tiny cellular telephone from their pocket enhances their looks.

✓ Gadgets Also Are an Outlet for Men’s Nurturing Side. It’s their need to be a protector and helper. Alarms, flashlights, strobes, knives, and pocket tools are good examples of this. Men are quick to show off this side of their personality, too: When Niels Buessem moved into his new home, his neighbor enthusiastically bounded over, chainsaw in hand, and offered to help cut something down. Not knowing what else to say—after all, he had just moved in and wanted to establish good neighbor relations—he let him cut down a bush. The expression on his face was child-like ecstasy, he said.

✓ Gadgets Let Men Work and Play at the Same Time . A fast computer, an electronic organizer, a snazzy briefcase, a travel bag with numerous compartments, or a high-tech cellular phone let men combine work and leisure. Men may be reluctant to express their need to play, claiming instead that they are workaholics. (It’s manly to work 12 hours a day, not so manly to work only 7.) When work becomes fun through gadgets, men feel better about their work and themselves because they can enhance their professional life and play at the same time.

✓ Gadgets Are Necessary Accoutrements for a Man in Midlife Crisis . But they’re not a result of a midlife crisis. The cliché portrayed in movies of a man driving off into the sunset in his shiny new sports car, which, at least temporarily alleviates his uncertain feelings, is far from the truth. By the time a man is 40 or 50, he’s pretty sure of himself, and gadgets are part of his life’s plan.

✓ For Some Men, Gadgets Are a Substitute for Watching Sports. Or at least for watching sports 24/7 (and a woman may consider herself lucky she has such a man). Not all men like watching football, baseball, basketball, hockey, wrestling, or women’s beach volleyball competitions. To fill that void in time, these men fiddle with gadgets. They may be into cars, boats, radios, airplanes, computers, flashlights—whatever. But whatever they do, consider yourself lucky it’s not sports. Why? For one thing, watching sports requires most men’s undivided attention at a time that is completely inconvenient to his wife or partner—say Monday night when the kids need help with homework. For another, watching sports often involves the consumption of significant calories in the form of alcoholic beverages and chips. But men who fiddle with gadgets instead of sports often develop an expertise that may translate into being helpful around the house: fixing a crashed computer or repairing an air conditioner in the summer are two examples that come to mind.

✓ Sometimes Guys Just Like Gadgets, and That’s All There Is to It. Noticing my boyfriend turning his new flashlight on and off repeatedly I was very puzzled. So I asked him what it was about flashlights that fascinated him so, and he seemed quite pensive and could only say that they’re cool and practical. That’s what one woman I interviewed told me. She couldn’t explain the phenomenon, and neither could her boyfriend. What’s wrong with just plain fun?

What does all this mean for the relationship between men and women? It means that:

✓ Gadgets do not take the place of relationships.

✓ Gadgets do not replace sex.

✓ Men need to be boys, but won’t necessarily admit to it. Modern toys let men be boys again, without ever having to acknowledge the need.

✓ Men who show short attention spans by rapidly changing television channels, for example, are merely focusing their lack of attention on an object. Letting the man be inattentive and restless toward the Internet or TV is better than having him let his attention wander from his wife or girlfriend.

✓ The man who buys an expensive cellular telephone, leather travel bag, electronic organizer, or laptop computer may not be planning to travel more often, but rather may simply be satisfying his urge to be able to bolt on a moment’s notice. In other words, a woman should not necessarily be concerned just because her husband or boyfriend is acquiring the means to escape. These gadgets give men the sense of freedom and allow them to stay at the same time: Men can escape but not wander away for long.

✓ Buying radar detectors, flashlights, alarms, knives, or air purifiers is a way for men to express their feelings toward the relationship. They imply that the man is enhancing his role of protector.

✓ Some men will use gadgets to distance themselves from emotional contact. When a man spends too much time with his gadgets as a means of avoiding talking about life, what should a woman do? Boys and Their Toys will address this problem.

These are some of the subjects that will be touched on in Boys