4. Discuss the relationship between information technology and the boy. -There is a sense of dependency on information technology.

The boys life is controlled by and revolves around information technology, so much so that the boy has become over-reliant on it. - Evidence to support this includes the boy and his inevitable fianc comb through thirteen million starter homes using four hundred search criteria and come up with three that fit them. They cant agree on which one to buy. They consult a site that generates random numbers and the data in fact prove their lives have been following weird synchrony that more or less compels them to marry. - Other evidence includes the trend of dependence on technology with time. This is evident from the heavy reliance on statistics, as well as facts and figures, which contributes to a rigid relationship, while the boy begins to dress like a ruler. Thus, there is an absence of emotional attachment, no warmth, and on top of it all, the loss of human touch. The nature of interaction is hence cold, hard and unfeeling, being devoid of personal touch with no exchange of feelings and emotion. -The boy even left important decisions such as marriage, which requires a lot of time and effort was put into thinking about, to website and search engines to decide, before continuing with the decision made online solely because eight out of ten dating websites deemed him and his bride to be compatible. Thus, we can see that throughout the story, everything is calculated electronically. This shows the extent of the overpowering of technology on humans, in decision making. ---

- It is an unhealthy relationship. Various aspects like socialising with friends, which requires close human interaction, are taken over by technology. The relationship shows how with the gradual advancement of technology, the boys quality of life improves with the convenience brought by information technology, but at the same time, the level of humanity is lowered. The relationship also foreshadows a possible phenomenon of drastic technological advancement, the negative influences that technology has on humans as well as the dominance of technology over humanity. - Evidence to support how the advancement of information technology improves the boys quality of life include the boy mods up a camera that can see, analyze and interpret nineteenth century paintings better than can most twentyfirst century humans. - Evidence which supports how at the same time, the boys level of humanity is lowered includes greeting cards being automated and sent out by the computer every year. The boy communicates with many of these friends by automatic greeting cards. His calendar-driven greetings will continue to be sent for years after his death. A number of these friends who receive the cards themselves are bots. These bot friends will nevertheless be deeply bewildered when the cards finally stop. - This shows the absence of true sincerity and emotions in cards, that it becomes cold and meaningless for both the sending and receiving party. - A personal card is being automated, which is an ironic example which illustrates how the boy loses the emotion supposed to be put into those cards. The only difference between humans and non-humans is humans ability to feel emotion and feelings, hence this fact that the boy depends on technology just to send a greeting card shows his relationship with technology has become a stronger bond as compared to the person he is sending a card/greeting to.