How Technology Has Changed Our Lives

In an ever-changing society, there is always pressure to accomplish tasks faster. People every day seek to make their lives simpler, live more efficiently, and in turn get more out of the day. Such emerging technologies have helped us make things easier on us in everyday life. When is the last time you saw an infomercial and thought hey I could use that? Consequently, communication has changed and is constantly changing, accelerating the world around us. Just think about how far we have come, and has ever-changed our pace of life. Technology is fueling our way of life, making everyday tasks faster and easier to do. In turn, this gives us more time to do more with the time in the day.

I think that new technology needs to be prevalent in our daily lives. Modern medicine has made so many advancements because of new technology. I do think in our daily, personal lives, that we are way too dependent, but with new technology, it can help save lives or make better structures, we need to be dependent on advancements. People have become addicted to the phones or tablets. They cannot socialize without constantly looking down at their phone. Some even use their cell phones in inappropriate places or times. Everything around a cell phone user, seems to be invisible to them. They do not seem to have time for others.

Technology is defined as machinery and equipment developed from the application of scientific knowledge. Its original use was meant solely for the service of humans, however overtime it has evolved into something much different. What was originally meant to be an assisting piece of machinery has changed almost every aspect of our culture. The way we think, communicate, lie, and even love has been impacted by the use of technology, and all of this is has made for interesting pieces of literature. In pieces such as Her and I, Robot, we see the evolution of robots and artificial intelligence into a more empathetic and humanlike creatures. This gradual change in our views of robots overtime speaks volumes to the evolution of technology. Technology in literature has become a reflection of human beings themselves, mirroring the very qualities of ourselves that make us human. By looking at the personality that technology takes on in literature, we can greater understand the aspects of ourselves that truly make us human.

Then there is the cost factor, to be able to use this software; you must first switch all medical records to a digital system. This appears to be so costly that the government offers incentive money to meaningful users of the electronic patient e-file. Then there is the issue of, what if the system goes down at a critical time in patient care? If there is no hard copy to fall back on how will that affect the outcome? Lastly, there is the possibility of a data breach this could cost thousands in legal fees (Khazan, n.d.)

Imagine living inside an invisible bubble, secluded from the outside world. You can see the surrounding environment, but there is a clear barrier that obstructs you from your family, your friends; the world even. As you would assume, communicating could get a little hard in this bubble. Although that analogy may seem a bit dramatic, there’s no denying that over the course of time, technology has made its mark on society in many different aspects of life, communication being one of them. So when asked to spend twenty-four hours without social media, you can imagine how frustrating it was as a creature of habit being unable to utilize the websites and apps that I would normally use on a daily basis. In turn, I was very inattentive throughout the day, as I couldn’t listen to study music or keep myself entertained, I was unable to communicate with my family, and I wasn’t very productive.

Who can deny that we are reaping the benefits of living in a modern age? How many times have we heard older people talk about the good old days? However, when we examine the good old days, maybe they were not quite as good as they remember. Every generation has benefitted from the advances made by the prior generation to improve the quality of life during the current generation. Today’s generation is no exception. Developments in technology, health, living, society and culture in the United States has made life better for today’s generation.

A few centuries ago, before technology was underdeveloped due to limited resources and knowledge, communication between countries on the opposite end of the world was extremely slow or not possible. Most people did not know much about other lands, people, and cultures. What people thought they knew about the world was often wrong or inaccurate. However, within the past hundred years, the pace of our technology has accelerated rapidly. Nowadays traveling across the globe in less than 24 hours is not a dream anymore. Communications between two distant individuals are only a click away. Technology has changed the way how we interact with the world drastically and it is one of the key ingredients that mankind cannot live without. As American critic and writer, Joseph Krutch states “Technology made large populations possible; large populations now make technology indispensable(Krutch). But what is technology? To me, technology is anything that is revolutionary and enhances our everyday life, such as agriculture, health care, and factories. And by revolutionary, I am referring to anything that has a major impact on a human society. That being said then domestication of plants and animals and the emergence of cites will therefore be under the category of technology because they both had a major impact on human society. The domestication of plants and animals has a direct correlation to the emergence of cities because it lies as a foundation in order for a complex society to form.

Today a lot of people use technology such as computers, smartphones, and tablets to get information, to buy something, and to communicate with family and friends. Since technology has been developed, people’s lives have also been changed. One of the examples is that many companies have started to sell their products through the Internet and customers look for goods and buy them on the Internet. Before technology was developed, people had to go to stores to purchase products. However, we can look for and purchase products whenever and wherever we want now. Shopping has become more convenient. I also often use technology to buy products, especially flight tickets. Since I came to the United States, whenever I go traveling or go back to Japan during breaks, I used an online travel agency, Expedia, to purchase my flight tickets. This is because it is very convenient. I can search and reserve my flight quickly. Usually, I do not have any problem with Expedia, but I had trouble with it because of technology during this spring break. I think that if humans operated the service, the problem did not happen.

Technology is our friend. That is a statement that could be addressed with many questions. How we used technology today has really affected our lives. People are connected every moment of the day. Everywhere we look there are people talking on their cell phones; at every stop light you see people texting on their device. The same people can be seen checking their phone or browsing the web at every chance they get. People are wasting enormous amounts of time staying connected with technology. The technology today has an impact on how we spend our time, and it is astonishing how people are wasting it.

Many people don’t ever think twice about posting their personal information online. They enjoy using many features that are made available to them on social media. Including tagging their location, posting pictures of themselves, and filling in their bio and profile with information about them. Technology has grown into something that is so easily accessible and convenient. One can now shop from the leisure of their home without ever moving from their sofa or changing out of their pajamas. What many people don’t know is that tech companies such as Facebook and Google track their online activity and are constantly storing and selling their information. A user may also willingly offer their information to these companies when they ask for it

When a college student was asked if they knew what an overhead was, the response had been, “Yes of course! It’s a projector like box with a light and mirror, which sits in the front of the classroom. It displays pictures from slides, and the teacher has clear sheets that we can write on using vis-a-vis marker.” Then when a student in elementary school was asked if they knew what an overhead was, their response were entirely different. None of them knew what it was, as their responses had been, “A coloring table”, “When you wear a mask”, and “A wood that covers things.” As one can see, the newer generations didn 't have the slightest idea of what an overhead is, while older students have grown up with the use of one. This is due to how technology has been advancing throughout the years and it will continue to change as time goes on.

Technology seems to be a topic with a lot of baggage attached to it. Since the evolution of technology a vast amount of social interaction has been diminished. Personal time with others has been cut down significantly as the new modern technology is now available for nearly anyone. Constantly being attached to a cell phone or computer screen is prohibiting social interaction between all kinds of relationships. Many say it is the fault of the individual to let the technology usage go as far as ruining communications that were once frequent among a kinship. Catching up on the latest celebrity gossip has become more important than talking to a spouse about their work day. Social media or online work can feel like an addiction to those who regularly use it. Now that the internet is accessible almost anywhere at anytime, the desire to be on board with the latest social media attraction has become nearly impossible to avoid. Being an avid technology user can put people at risk of becoming socially deprived of face-to-face communication since the user may prefer telecommunications rather than an in-person conversation. Due to a depletion of direct facial communication many believe that the use of technology is at fault; however these allegations are being fought against as others see technology as an advancement in communication.

Today was a typical day for me. I woke up and started looking through my email and schedule on Gmail. I did a daily reading in my Jesus Calling App specifically for today, took a shower and reviewed my homework assignment on the UMUC website. Later I went for a run and tracked my mileage on Strava and noticed my friend Mike logged a bike ride yesterday so I gave him a “thumbs up.” Later, as I returned to my schoolwork I noticed some pop up ads for new places to visit in Florida since I just returned there and used my Waze and Trip Advisor to get me around.

In a generation that’s technology savvy people are always on their phone at any given time of the day. Think about it for a second, the first thing a person does in today’s world, even before they have to use the rest room is to check their phone. Yes, you heard right, check their phone. It’s become such a natural habit that its naturally stored in our daily routine. Everything is at the palm of our hands to finding something to eat, checking/responding to emails, weather alerts, and amber alerts. The lists of things we can do on our phone just continues to grow rapidly. Do we ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe we are on our phones too much? Studies show that the average American spends 4.7 hours on his or her phone, and will check social media a staggering 17 times a day according to Digital Trends. In more serious cases some have lost their lives making posts to via social media moments leading up to their deaths. The app I’d like to propose a problem and solution to is Facebook.

Technology affects our lives in a major way. It is hard to go anywhere and not see the changes technology has bought to people now in year 2015. It is hard to even imagine life without technology. It is hard to imagine life without technology because whether it has been in its simplest form technological advances have been being introduced to humanity since the invention of the wheel. Today technology has helped us save time and helps those who use it to complete tasks easier and more efficiently. And saving time and being able to complete task more efficiently is paramount in today’s society where being able to operate as lean as possible is a major priority, if not the top priority. Technology is one of the major reasons businesses, both small and large, can function as well as they do in a rapid and agile manner. Just think about how technology affects many jobs today compared to one-hundred years ago, and not even that long ago, maybe even thirty years ago. Technology itself makes life easier, and makes task that used to be stringent and