Forster's depiction of a society that is entirely dependent on technology, closely resembles the one we live in today, though it may be an exaggeration, he sends a message that there is still hope for humanity if we turn away from technology. .
In the short story, we learn that humanity has completely lost touch with reality. There is no human contact and very seldom a reason to leave their rooms. In today's world we are not quite there yet but we are moving closer to that point each day. A study by an assistant professor of communication studies found that people who use cell phone frequently are less likely to communicate in public [Goscicki]. If this progress further it is easy to see how we could be a society with no human contact. And with the genetic need in human beings to have instant gratification, technology is going even further [Muther]. Today, you can work from home, attend school from home, you can do just about anything in the comfort of your own home. Imagine if everyone decided that they no longer wanted to leave their houses. With the technology we have today it would be easy, some people do it already. This shows our reliance on technology. We use text messages and emails if we need to communicate with one another, we use the Global Position System on our phones or in our cars to get where we need to go. The entire system of face to face interaction, asking people for directions, or even making small talk at the bus-stop seems naive and ancient to us now. We use Siri to find out information that we need and we use the internet for hundreds of things, from useful information to entertainment. We may not be able to press a button and a bed appears or presses another button and is able to attend a nine am lecture class but we are rapidly moving toward it. Several old concepts such as libraries which were considered to be the center of knowledge and research have ceased to even exist since the introduction of e-books and e-libraries.