I realized this the other day while sending a text to my wife. "ahsjdk moe", I typed 'grrh bnyfjunh dlim yjr di[rtmskpds?" I added. Silently, instantly and efficiently, my phone's autocorrect function kicked in and transformed the garbled message into the slightly more coherent: "Leaving now. Need anything from the supermarket?"
I used to worry about typing properly, but now I don't bother; my computers and phones and tablets fix the errors for me. And it s not just typos. I've outsourced so many things to my PC, my phone and my tablet that my brain has withered; if you give my head a shake, you'll hear what sounds like a frozen pea rattling around a dustbin.
You name it - my various devices take care of it. Technology works out what I want to watch on TV, records it, and then reminds me to watch it. It remembers not just my closest friends' phone numbers, but also their birthdays, the names of their children and their children's birthdays. It does my sums, shows me how to make soup, tells me to buy milk when I drive near a shop, and advises me to wear a coat if it looks like rain.
We're still in the early stages of this transformation, but I can't help thinking It's just a matter of time before my PC scans my email, tweets and Facebook messages to see whether I'm in a bad mood, adjusting the lights, and begins playing some soothing music and preparing some comfort food for when I get in. As I eat with my fingers, gawping at my favourite TV shows on my touchscreen table and grunting to like friends' Facebook updates, tiny robots will clear up the mess as I make it. And when my wife says hello, my PC will remind me what her name is.
