Technological Whatsits and Electronic Doodads

So during my Winter Break, I got bored one night and started browsing through YouTube until I stumbled upon the History Channel's five part video on Technology and Scientific Advances. Here're the links for anyone curious (or bored enough) to check out.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmiNk-5Etv4

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA_yW3CqSOw

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny5z-wXezbU

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vjkho5iZB0

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk8gLJuqPHs

Robots. The first thing that comes to mind for most of us when we see o hear this word is probably the image of a giant mindless automaton made of metal. The thoughts after that vary, but one of them is bound to be this: Robotic killing machines designed for war. That raises another thought/image: Arnold Schwarzenegger gunning down numerous people with a machine gun. Throughout the scientific world, people always murmur and fear robots turning on humanity and driving us to extinction; and yet here we are developing walking murderers and programming them to kill. If that isn't hypocrisy, then I truly don't know the meaning of the word.

I think it's great that we're moving into a new stage of Technology... But think that it's being wasted on questionable projects? Like Boston Dynamic's "BigDog": We see it as a major development in science that could make transporting things easier... And the government sees that too; only they imagine it carrying military equipment for soldiers. Nope... It wasn't designed to carry heavy loads for construction or heavy cargo... It was designed to carry guns and ammo.

Another thought that's been bugging me about technology is how heavily we've come to depend on it; especially the younger generations. I happen to know a seven year old who texts on her cellphone almost everyday non-stop. When I asked her what would happen if she didn't have her cell with her; she said, and I quote, "I can't live without my phone or my iPod". Seven years old and she's already saying "can't live without". It sends shivers down my spine whenever I wonder what would happen to us if all the technology in the world suddenly stopped working. Mass riots, nervous breakdowns, even suicide is likely if a person is that dependent. The whole situation reminds me of the movie "Wall-E", where the entire human race left Earth because we destroyed it with our pollutants and trash... Only to become fat pigs depending on robots deep in space. Granted, the idea of it is chuckle worthy... but it's not a impossibility.