Technology and Culture

The world of technology is both a blessing and a curse. It definitely made our lives a lot better by the innovation and discoveries that made this world a much better place. However, there are some pros and cons that came with this wonderful advancement. From high-speed trains to cellphones, we have evolved in something called the digital nation. Typewriters are almost obsolete now. Desktops, laptops, and tablets have replaced it. Home phones have been replaced by cellphones. Real world has transformed into fantasy world. Online gaming is something that a lot of people share. Games have developed into an experience where you sit in front of a computer; choose your character and battle with other people. Online gaming is highly addictive but the more scary part is the fact that people start getting confused who is real and who is not. Some people who are not necessarily happy with their life like the idea that they can be somewhere and be whoever they want to be. Some gamers would sit for hours, sometimes, for days, forgetting to eat or drink or shower, forgetting that we need to keep our body hydrated at all times. It’s not that they don’t want to eat; it’s more like they don’t want to miss anything. I’ve heard on the news about a twenty-four year old guy who was found dead at his living room, in front of his Xbox console. His autopsy revealed that he had suffered from pulmonary embolism. He was too focused on the game that he was barely moving and after a matter of hours, a clot has developed and killed him. That’s one of the reasons why when we catch a flight, the airline crews encourage us to walk around the cabin and do some stretching. Social networking is all over the place. Websites like Facebook and MySpace are dominating. It’s now easier to find someone online than ever before. I remembered the days when instant messaging was launched. We created our profiles and meet people all over the world. A lot of people use chat rooms to talk to friends and family. At the same time, we hear on the news about someone getting killed or raped because they decided to meet with this mysterious person who turned out to be the total opposite of who they said they were. If we think about it, we might say that it’s a no-brainer. How can we trust someone we never met before? Studies have shown that people who are constantly online, thinking that they are making friends, end up being a more isolated and depressed person. Although it has been said that they tend to develop mental illness, it is rather hard to prove. Who has not seen an iPod or even own one? When this tiny piece of music player came out, it became the best invention of all times. No more big and bulky stereos, no more cassette tapes, no need for CD players. IPod is so small that you can take it anywhere and load any kind of music. Then came the iPhone. Take a look around and count how many iPhone users are around, not just here in the United States but all around the world. But it’s not over yet. Now, we see the iPad. If you think that MacBook Air is still too big or too heavy to carry, then you should look into this amazing tablet. Apple Company is a huge example, if not the best one; of what it is like to constantly develop software and gadgets to help us live a better, more convenient life. Imagine walking into a bookstore. Almost all bookstores now have cafeterias inside. Observe what people actually do at this area. Are they still busy reading a brand new book? Most of the time, they are all facing their laptops, typing endlessly and reading their emails and checking their phones. People rarely use landlines anymore. Almost everybody have their cellphones that they carry all over the place. And guess what happens when we forget out phones? We turn right back around to go and get it. On nights when we’re supposed to sleep comfortably in out beds, we still sneak out our laptops and check emails one last time as if we would miss something extremely important and not have a chance to respond. Watching the Digital Nation video truly opened my eyes and I realized how dependent we are with technology. It is amazing how far we’ve come from the days where we have to ride a horse carriage to get to the next town. Now high-speed rails are being developed all over the world. The world of technology is evolving into something better every day. Sooner or later, we might be able to catch a train and be in another country a few hours later. This world that we live in so full of innovations that we don’t have to use the phone or see each other in order to communicate. We just sit in front of the computer, which most of them have built in cameras, and be able to talk. Even meetings don’t have to be face to face anymore. There is software like Webinar, where people would conduct meetings and look at presentations. Staff members can share ideas from everywhere around the world. If asked how many hours do we spend in front of the computer, what would your response be? I spend almost all day in front of the screen at work, and by the time I go home, I’m still on my laptop. I have developed carpal tunnel and near-sightedness over the years but it doesn’t seem to have that big of an effect because whether we admit it or not, life would be so inconvenient without having a computer. We are so used to having computers that life would be incomplete without it.