Technology In Our Lives, Is It Really Any Better?
I'm thinking lately about the role of technology in our everyday lives. Let me take you through
typical day in my life. Keep in mind I am not a super high-tech individual and do not make a lot
of money. I have a very simple lifestyle and I am not considered by any means to be a tech
junkie or a wealthy individual.
I wake up in the morning when my alarm clock goes off and that alarm clock tells me that it's
time to wake up and start the day. Next I will go into the kitchen where my copy is automatically
begun pulling coffee for the day. And magically my television is already on and my DVR is
recording CNN as I began cooking my eggs on my gas range with digital readout. Before you sit
down to eat I typically will make a couple phone calls on my iPhone which will then drag me into
at least 5 to 10 min. of playing with some app that I really don't need or care to play with but yet
end up doing anyway. My Friends are crazy about these over the air DVRs that can record
broadcasts. One of them has a site, check this out it is the Channel Master CM-7000PAL Digital
Video Recorder If you are not sure what that device is check this out.
After my breakfast is complete and I washed my CNN and recorded just in case I missed
something, I'll sit down at my table and open up my Asus laptop. At this point I will browse the
Internet check my e-mail maybe even work on a couple of my websites for few hours. And now
that is just up until lunchtime.
So look at what is happening just the course of a few hours in my day! Alarm clock, coffee
maker, television, DVR, electronic stove, iPhone, laptop. All of those devices have become an
intricate part of my life so much so that I take them for granted and inevitably think about how
much I rely on them. If I was to go to the rest of my day you see more devices and more
technology coming into play after our day after day. One such example would be getting in my
vehicle and maybe driving to the store where I would have a GPS tracking system a touchscreen
on my stereo not to mention a do-it-yourself checkout cashier at the grocery store which
automatically says in a very human voice how much all of my products cost and asked me
politely if I have any coupons. If you were to tell me this was how my life is going to be back in
1985 when I was listening to cassette tapes of Def Leppard on my Sony Walkman I would
probably have had a heart attack and fell on the floor , and asked you with a straight face if cars
were levitating yet? Can you believe this has happened with technology?
It is simply amazing and every now and then I have to step back and shake my head rub my eyes
and say to myself this is the future. An example of what I'm talking about is right now I'm not
even typing this in fact my computer is typing for me while I put my dog with one hand and to
drink my Coke zero with the other hand. Now I know that this is not news to any of you and if
you're a young person you have no idea what I'm talking about because you grew up with
computers he grew up with digital devices you grew up with iPods, but it should be mentioned
that the world is not always like this. Yes all this technology is great and fun and useful from
time to time but don't kid yourself. This is not all it is nor is it all that was.
That was a world before all this technology and to be honest I kind of liked it better. Cassette
tapes and vinyl records, Sony Walkman's, and listening to Howard Jones or Def Leppard or
Depeche Mode's on my crappy headphones.. this was technology in 1985. It was different then,
people were different then, it was a simpler time and right about now I really miss that feeling
that anything can happen because now I see that the future is technology. I do not necessarily
like that idea because if the trend continues there'll be no more people just hanging out at each
other's houses listening to records because everybody will be on Skype or on voice chat with
there's no need to actually see each other one-on-one anymore and it could be the end of all
human contact. Of course this all sound crazy to you if you're under the age of 35 but if you're
over 35 you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Long live the old school!