Americans have a love for electronic gadgets, all those time-saving, labor-saving devices that have turned our homes into temples of technology.

"I think we are very gadget oriented," said Georganne Syler of the human environmental studies faculty at Southeast Missouri State University.

That's borne out, she said, by the popularity of stores like Brookstone and the Sharper Image, which sell unique gadgets.

Electronic gadgets, she said, have meant less labor for individuals and have resulted in us living more sedentary lives.

"We are enormous consumers of commercial energy and tremendous savers of personal energy."

All these labor-saving devices means we end up burning less calories. It's one factor in why many people are overweight, she said.

"We are so incredibly sedentary," said Syler. "We used to jump out of the car and open a garage door and now we push a button.

"You used to push up a towel and scrub that head to dry it. Now we stand there and hold the electric hair dryer.

"There are things as ridiculous as electric apple peelers and potato peelers."

Syler remembers when there was just one telephone in her home. "When the phone rang we ran, and we ran when we were out in the yard (to answer the phone)," she said.

"Now many of us have a phone in every room. In fact, we do too. We even have a phone in our car."

Microwave ovens are virtually required appliances these days. "They have computer chips in them and they are programmable to come on and defrost and kick up to a higher temperature."

There are also regular ovens that are programmable to come on and turn off automatically. And there are coffeemakers that do the same thing, providing us with a hot cup of coffee when we wake up.

Programmable thermostats turn furnaces down late at night when people are sleeping, and then crank them up the next morning.

And all of this technology is available at the push of a button.