“Technology is the only thing that really entertains us”

This television commercial for the ASUS T102 has a statement that I find terribly sad: “Technology is the only thing that really entertains us.” It’s spoken by one of the “Hulford quads,” quadruplet girls, eight-graders. We see them using Windows 10 in a windowless room, sitting at a table that resembles those one might see in a Microsoft Store (which resemble those one might see in an Apple Store).

I know that those words were written for one of the girls to say. The commercial itself appears to belie the claim: photographs show the girls sledding and hiking and looking out on a lake or ocean; in the windowless room, they dance. Or perhaps those activities are merely weak substitutes for what technology alone can provide. Poor quads.