Technology - pros and cons | Do humans really need technology?
Technology - Boon or Curse!!!!
In this blog you will find the answers for:
1. How do you define technology?
2. How do you see the future of technology?
3. What are the benefits of technology in education?
4. What are the pros and cons of technology?
5. What are the advantages of technology?
6. Does technology make us lazy?
7. Why might you think technology is a bad thing for society?
8. How does technology affect our daily lives?
9. Why we're dependent on technology so much?
10. Do humans really need technology?
1. How do you define technology?
2. How do you see the future of technology?
"We've experienced many accelerated technological advances due to circumstances surrounding the continuing impact of the pandemic," said William D. Gropp, IEEE CS president. "With the 2022 Technology Predictions from the Computer Society, we share our insights on the future of computing research and technology and the impact these advances will have on society."
No one can say with 100% certainty what path the future of tech will take, but IEEE CS experts in the field offer useful insights and predictions into some of the most influential possibilities. Highlights include:
The top three tech trends that are anticipated to dominate in 2022 are datacentric AI, remote medicine, health, safety, and wearable biomedical technologies.
Converging technologies increasingly play crucial roles in disruption and are becoming essential for our survival.
Predicting technologies helps address pandemic impacts and concerns; it goes well beyond hypothetical exercise.
"The long-term impact of the pandemic ensued the rapid acceleration of digital transformation in the industry, academia, and private life," said Dejan Milojicic, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Distinguished Technologist and former IEEE CS president (2014). "Disruption of technologies has advanced at an unprecedented pace and has increasingly played a crucial role across a wide spectrum of influence, becoming essential for survival."
The 2022 Technology Predictions provides a deep dive into each prediction with analysis of specific problems and current demands; the opportunities for the technology; the impact the technology will have on the public, products, services, and related technologies; and the sustainable solutions and business opportunities that it could potentially inhibit and/or enable.
The top 16 technology trends predicted to reach adoption in 2022 are:
Datacentric AI: There is an increased demand to make data available everywhere and an increased focus on datacentric machine learning.
Remote Medicine: Remote medicine will enable patients to obtain remote medical assistance and physicians to perform procedures and consult with remote experts.
Health, Safety, and Wearable Biomedical Technologies: These are small electronic, wireless, and autonomous devices that capture, analyze, and aggregate biofeedback or other sensory physiological functions related to health, well-being, and fitness and that can be worn on the human body (or in the human body with versions such as micro-chips or smart tattoos.)
Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructure and Medical/Biological Supply Chains: This means securing digital vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure, data, and medical resources.
Convergence of HPC/AI/HPDA Delivered on Heterogeneous Hardware & Serverless: Heterogeneity continues to emerge to overcome the end of Moore's Law, and serverless continues the evolution of finer-grain and higher-level abstraction of virtualization from bare metal to virtual machines to containers, and now Functions as a Service (FaaS).
AI at the Edge: This trend involves distributed federated learning with the support of the cloud; real use cases are available.
Applications of Additive Manufacturing in Healthcare: This includes 3D printing parts and components for existing or new healthcare solutions, such as prosthetics, personal protective equipment, customized surgical equipment, parts for patient sample collection, and safer implants and ingestible devices.
Safety, Reliability, and Resilience for Intelligent Autonomous Systems: Fueled by the pandemic, substantial growth in autonomous systems (vehicles and robots) will further improve the reliability and safety of such autonomous systems.
Digital Twins in Manufacturing and Industrial Metaverse: Integration of the IoT, 5G, AI, and XR will create a blended reality experience where simulation and reality overlap.
Trustworthy AI: In addition to performance, AI/ML developers will start focusing on explainable and trustworthy tools, code, and hardware.
Disinformation Detection and Correction: Critical importance of having accurate information will trigger techniques to determine disinformation in politics, business, and social media.
Commoditization of Space Technology: More companies are sending technology to space, and the barriers to entry are decreasing rapidly.
Low-Code/No-Code Programming Techniques: The wide adoption of computer systems in almost every facet of our life requires some degree of programming, but not everyone is skilled or even aware of programming languages and environments. Low-code/no-code enables novice users to achieve their programming needs without being skilled in programming.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): Blockchain technology can be used for authentication and ownership of digital assets and potential for a new type of virtualization of the ownership of physical things.
Next-Generation Remote Presence ("Metaverse"): Incremental progress in existing VR/AR technologies, as well as new technologies involving senses beyond audiovisual, are driving better and better immersion.
Confidential Computing: This refers to privacy-enhanced and secure computing delivered through a hybrid cloud model.
3. What are the benefits of technology in education?
Advantages of technology in education
Looking back over the last hundred years, introducing technology into the classroom has been a blessing only for younger students and teachers. In other words, with a sudden introduction of a wide range of devices and the Internet, students got the opportunity to make the learning process much easier and more interesting. Key benefits of technology in education include:
Provides a better interactive experience during the learning and teaching process
With the introduction of mobile phones, tablets, and computers, students are now able to do something they should have been able to do long ago – to learn actively and productively. For the first time, students can access a subject/teaching unit with enthusiasm thanks to applications, videos, simulations, and digital books that make the learning process much more engaging. Moreover, having the opportunity to dig deeper into an area that interests them allows them to potentially recognize their interests and talents, and maybe even their future profession.
Provides access to an unlimited amount of current information and data from a variety of sources
In addition to the fact that students approach learning with more enthusiasm and productivity, they also have the opportunity to access the most current topics and research, which is something their ancestors could only dream about. Instead of going from library to library, dragging a pile of books with them, they are just a few clicks and well-defined queries away from accessing information that can give them additional insight into the topics they are covering at school. So, this practice not only enables students to have modern education but also teaches them how to approach the search for information and read complex professional literature.
Teaches them digital literacy
We all know that young people cannot acquire the level of skill demanded by today’s corporate world in computer science classes. By implementing technology as an integral part of education, students are allowed to keep up with learning trends and acquire technological/digital skills that are highly sought after in the 21st century. This form of learning is most helpful for students who don’t have access to modern technology at home, which could also potentially reduce the social gap between digitally literate and illiterate people.
Reduces educational costs
With the introduction of technology in education, resources have become more accessible, which resulted in declining tuition fees, the need for books and their price, as well as the reduced need for school supplies. The introduction of e-books has made things easier for low-income families and helped students to approach learning on equal terms with their peers, without parental pressure for high performance arising from large investments into their child’s education.
In addition, another positive side-effect of using e-books in education is the fact that they indirectly contribute to the reduction of deforestation, which is one of the major environmental problems.
Provides better insight into student performance thanks to metrics
In the past, teachers had to spend considerable time evaluating the overall academic performance of each student, which proved to be very impractical, especially in large classes with over 20 students. Unfortunately, many students never succeed in correcting the wrong steps in learning that can help them improve their performance, and potentially discover their talents of affinities.
However, with the introduction of digital technologies and the Internet in the classrooms, a teachers’ job of analyzing student performance and providing guidelines and advice has become much easier, which is a win-win situation both for teachers and students. Specifically, thanks to platforms that collect data on student performance in class, tests, and assignments, teachers have clear insight into the areas students struggle with, or excel at. Moreover, teachers are now able to modify lessons based on insights into the performance of individual students, or class as a whole.
They can choose between real-time learning or learning at their own pace
Technology in education has allowed students to gain control over their learning, but it also provided flexibility to teachers in transferring knowledge to students. Namely, this practice is only possible in schools that support hybrid (blended) learning, i.e. a combination of synchronous real-time learning, and asynchronous learning where students can listen to a lecture when they choose.
Listening to a teacher giving a lesson in real-time provides students with a stronger sense of belonging, and allows them to socialize with their peers, same as face-to-face interaction with the teacher. On the other hand, more independent students who are confident in their own time management and commitment management skills can learn whenever they feel like it.
4. What are the pros and cons of technology?
Here are the pros and cons of technology
Pros
Improves efficiency for Business
The best advantage of any technology is that it increases the efficiency of a business process.
We can perform more tasks in less time. From shared drives to emails, communication, coordination, execution, and implementation of a lot of business processes have become swift and hassle-free, all thanks to technology. One example is the ability to create check stubs using a tool that does it in a minute, rather than doing the calculations manually & writing numbers manually on a piece of paper.
Saves time
A very obvious advantage of technology is that it saves time. As we can complete a task in lesser time, we can utilize the time saved for other important activities. With the help of technology a lot of activities such as cooking, cleaning, working, commuting are accomplished faster.
Better communication
In earlier times, communicating with a person belonging to a different part of the world was difficult. Think about it! Think back to the time when people had to communicate using pigeons or letters, something that took days or weeks! However today the world has come closer and one can easily connect with a person sitting in another corner of the world, all thanks to technology.
Reduces cybercrime risks
The biggest benefit of technology is the cyber world. AI (Artificial intelligence) algorithms are qualified to detect a change in patterns that are unique from the normal pattern.
Implementing AI to detect cyber-attack is still at an early stage, but with advancements in technology, one can expect to prevent it. Hence the chances of getting a cyber-attack are reduced.
Cons
Besides the advantages discussed above, there are also some disadvantages of technological advancements:
Extreme dependability
With each passing day, we are becoming more and more dependent on technology for almost every task without even realizing it. A common example of this is using a cab service. Another example is using GPS to know the directions of any desired location. A lot of people today do not bother learning or memorizing directions because they depend on Google Maps for it. In a lot of ways, that’s not a good path we’re going down!
Expensive
Although technology is already a part of many people’s lives, there are still some people out there who cannot afford some technologies. Many technologies that are being used by organizations are expensive. As a result, one of technology’s biggest cons is that it can only be used by those who can afford it.
Shortage of jobs
With technology, the efficiency of a task has increased tenfold and this is the reason why the technology might be able to replace humans soon. An increase in technology is going to ensure that tasks that humans could do earlier can now be achieved by machines and technology. Thus, creating a shortage of jobs.
Nowadays even organizations prefer technology that is capable of doing tasks more efficiently than humans. Thus, with the rise of technology humans can be replaced by algorithms and robots, but in education, it is still a long way off. After all, a machine will not be able to write and proofread a thorough text like a professional essay writing service.
Malfunctions
The biggest disadvantage of technology is that all are machine-driven. And a minor lapse in functioning can create a situation that cannot be controlled. So, a minor malfunction may cause a complete failure which can cost a human life as well.
Now that we have discussed how technology benefits us and also the disadvantages of technology today, we’re confused about whether to perceive it as a boon or bane. Only time can validate the future of technology. We also think that as global citizens, we have a responsibility of allowing certain technologies into our lives. It’s up to us to make the decisions!
What’s your opinion on this? Let us know in the comments below!
5. What are the advantages of technology?
1. The improvement of productivity
Technology has played a key role in driving productivity for businesses in a way that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago.
Advancements in manufacturing and assembly-line technology mean that goods can be produced at an incredible rate.
Machines and robots have been able to cut down the cost of production and drive up output. Whether it’s canned foods or clothing or furniture, companies with economies of scale can produce large quantities of their products in a way that can meet market demand.
2. Better and easier communication between people
Arguably, the greatest advancement in technology in the last century was the invention of the Internet; it has truly changed every aspect of life and made the world more interconnected.
Thanks to the Internet or mobile technology, someone in Asia can communicate with another person in America in a matter of seconds.
First came Facebook, which allowed people to post updates about themselves and communicate with the world.
Then came Skype, allowing people to communicate with each other visually, at little additional cost. Then came Whatsapp, allowing people to send messages to each other without limitation.
And new communication apps keep coming up all the time. Video calls and conferences have become the norm. The old barrier of communication — geographical distance —- has been broken down for good.
3. Saves time in processes and tasks
Both blue-collar jobs and white-collar jobs have become more efficient due to advancements in technology.
For blue-collar jobs, automation has streamlined many processes that traditionally require greater human input — reducing error and saving time.
For white-collar jobs, the avalanche of new productivity apps and software means that workers can get more done in a shorter amount of time, cutting down bureaucracy and other barriers to effective communication.
Technology has functioned as an aid to human efficiency, much like an artificial arm; it has enabled tasks to be completed in a shorter amount of time with greater results.
4. Allows Remote Education
In all past centuries, getting an education required the learner to go to a physical location (for example, a university), learn from a teacher in-person, and read physical books.
This often meant that the less fortunate, or simply those who lived in poorly connected towns, could not receive a proper education.
Technology has changed all that. The advent of the Internet itself has made knowledge ubiquitous – anyone can now log onto Wikipedia and find some information about something.
Anyone can purchase an ebook, even if the physical version of the book is unavailable at their current location.
Moreover, tertiary education centers have also opened up to offer online courses and allow for remote learning. This means that it is now possible for someone to get a degree without ever meeting his or her professor in person. This has made education more accessible than ever.
5. Cheaper Manufacturing of Products
In the past, the manufacturing industry involved individuals having to labor to produce each item, one at a time.
For example, in the clothing industry, every piece of clothing had to be hand-sewn — meaning that someone would need to spend hours (or days) producing a piece of clothing before it could be sold in the market. This meant the cost of manufacturing per item was much higher because it required personal labor.
Technology has changed all that. Now, a piece of clothing can be produced within minutes by an automated production line. As a result, the cost per item has been driven down significantly.
6. Artificial Intelligence Can Make Lives Easier and Solve Complex Problems
The phrase ‘artificial intelligence’ can sometimes conjure up images of sentient robots taking over the world. However, artificial intelligence means so much more than that.
Artificial intelligence is broadly defined as technologies that mimic human cognitive functions and can learn to solve problems.
For example, Twitter uses artificial intelligence to identify probable hate speech and racist content. Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, is also an example of artificial intelligence — it learns to adapt to instructions and preferences with continual use.
The ability of some software to anticipate human behavior has made our lives easier and our relationship with technology smoother.
7. More Mobility Options
History records that the Wright Brothers invented the airplanes in the early 1900s, which was hailed as a miracle at the time.
Before the previous century, ‘flying’ was a human fantasy, and nothing more. The invention of airplanes changed everything; it enabled distant places to be connected in a previously impossible way.
Of course, it wasn’t just planes that changed the way we travel. The advancement in personal and commercial vehicles, such as cars and trains, has also made mobility easier and faster. Now, anyone can travel from any major city in the world to another in less than a day.
8. Financial transactions and payments are easier and more secure
In the past, money always had to be stored in a physical location; thieves could break into your home and could steal all your money if they found out where you stored it.
Now, money exists in both the physical form as well as the digital, reducing the risk of losing everything from a single act of physical theft.
The advancement in financial technology also means that entire financial transactions can be completed online. Moreover, innovative banking smartphone apps can help us make more informed financial decisions or even save money.
The use of single-use codes, multiple passwords, encryption, etc has also made financial transactions more secure.
Someone from one country can send money to another person without worrying about the money getting lost in transition. Fraudulent transactions are also more easily traced and flagged due to technology.
9. Cloud computing and cloud services
The definition of the word ‘cloud’ has undergone a paradigm transformation in the past few decades; it used to refer exclusively to the white masses of condensed water vapor in the sky, now it can also mean the network of remote servers and storage used to hold data and provide computing services.
Practically, it means that users can now store their data in a virtual ‘cloud’, and access that data from any device anywhere in the world. This means that people can store important data more securely than ever before.
Moreover, renting IT infrastructure, service, or software which resides on the “cloud” is more cost-effective in the long run and removes the headache of managing and supporting a local (on-premises) computing environment.
10. Helps in health and for discovering new cures
Technology and modern medicine have become inseparable; modern medicine simply cannot exist without technology.
Technology is used to manufacture drugs safely and in a large enough quantity to meet the health needs of the global population.
Advancements in medical technology mean that crucial drugs such as anti-malaria pills and AIDS medication can reach the people who need them the most.
Technology is also used to research and produce vaccines that protect us from some of the worst diseases in the world.
Today, technology is playing an indispensable role in helping humanity search for a vaccine for the new virus pandemic, and to ensure that it can be mass-produced as quickly as possible once discovered.
6. Does technology make us lazy?
Technology is both a blessing and a curse. On paper, technology provides us with plenty of conveniences and gives us the ability to do things that weren’t before possible.
In reality, however, it has come at a cost.
This cost is that technology has become amazingly addictive, serving as a distraction in most people’s lives. In other words, technology has made us lazy and unproductive due to its added conveniences, keeping us from unlocking our full potential.
7. Why might you think technology is a bad thing for society?
While some forms of technology may have made positive changes in the world, there is evidence for the negative effects of technology and its overuse, as well.
Social media and mobile devices may lead to psychological and physical issues, such as eyestrain and difficulty focusing on important tasks. They may also contribute to more serious health conditions, such as depression.
The overuse of technology may have a more significant impact on developing children and teenagers.
In this article, learn about the psychological and physical health effects of technology, as well as how to create healthful habits with technology and avoid overuse.
Psychological effects
Overuse or dependence on technology may have adverse psychological effects, including:
Isolation
Technologies, such as social media, are designed to bring people together, yet they may have the opposite effect in some cases.
A 2017study in young adults aged 19–32 years found that people with higher social media use were more than three times as likely to feel socially isolated than those who did not use social media as often.
Finding ways to reduce social media use, such as setting time limits for social apps, may help reduce feelings of isolation in some people.
Depression and anxiety
The authors of a
Their research found mixed results. People who had more positive interactions and social support on these platforms appeared to have lower levels of depression and anxiety.
However, the reverse was also true. People who perceived that they had more negative social interactions online and who were more prone to social comparison experienced higher levels of depression and anxiety.
So, while there does appear to be a link between social media and mental health, a significant determining factor is the types of interactions people feel they are having on these platforms.
Technology use may increase the risk of physical issues as well, including:
Eyestrain
Technologies, such as handheld tablets, smartphones, and computers, can hold a person’s attention for long periods. This may lead to eyestrain.
Symptoms of digital eye strain can include blurred vision and dry eyes. Eyestrain may also lead to pains in other areas of the body, such as the head, neck, or shoulders.
Several technological factors may lead to eyestrain, such as:
- screen time
- screen glare
- screen brightness
- viewing too close or too far away
- poor sitting posture
- underlying vision issues
Taking regular breaks away from the screen may reduce the likelihood of eyestrain.
Anyone regularly experiencing these symptoms should see an optometrist for a checkup.
The 20-20-20 rule for digital viewing
When using any form of digital screen for longer periods, the American Optometric Association recommends using the 20-20-20 rule.
To use the rule, after every 20 minutes of screen time, take a 20-second break to look at something at least 20 feet away.
Doing this may help reduce the strain on the eyes from staring at a screen for a continuous period.
Learn more about the 20-20-20 rule in this article.
Poor posture
The way many people use mobile devices and computers may also contribute to incorrect posture. Over time, this may lead to musculoskeletal issues.
Many technologies promote a “down and forward” user position, meaning the person is hunched forward and looking down at the screen. This can put an unnecessary amount of pressure on the neck and spine.
A 5-year study in the journal Applied Ergonomics found an association between texting on a mobile phone and neck or upper back pain in young adults.
The results indicated the effects were mostly short-term, though some people continued to have long-term symptoms.
However, some studies challenge these results.
A
This study concluded that texting and “text neck” did not influence neck pain in young adults. However, the study did not include a long-term follow-up.
It may be that other factors influence neck pain, as well, such as age and activity levels.
Correcting posture problems while using technology may lead to an overall improvement in posture and strength in the core, neck, and back.
For example, if a person finds themselves sitting in the same position for hours at a time, such as sitting at a desk while working, regularly standing or stretching may help reduce strain on the body.
Additionally, taking short breaks, such as walking around the office every hour, may also help keep the muscles loose and avoid tension and incorrect posture.
Learn more about how to stay active and in good posture at work with this article.
Sleep problems
Using technology too close to bedtime may cause issues with sleep. This effect has to do with the fact that blue light, such as the light from cell phones, e-readers, and computers, stimulates the brain.
The authors of a 2014 study found that this blue light is enough to disturb the body’s natural circadian rhythm. This disturbance could make it harder to fall asleep or lead to a person feeling less alert the next day.
To avoid the potential impact of blue light on the brain, people can stop using electronic devices that emit blue light an hour or two before bedtime.
Gentle activities to wind down with instead, such as reading a book, doing gentle stretches, or taking a bath, are alternatives.
Reduced physical activity
Most everyday digital technologies are sedentary. More extended use of these technologies promotes a more sedentary lifestyle, which is known to have negative health effects, such as contributing to:
- obesity
- cardiovascular disease
- type 2 diabetes
- premature death
Finding ways to take breaks from sedentary technologies may help promote a more active lifestyle.
8. How does technology affect our daily lives?
Technology has had a huge impact on all our daily lives, from social media to work - we look at the areas most hit.
Technology affects almost every aspect of 21st-century life, from transport efficiency and safety, to access to food and healthcare, socialization, and productivity. The power of the internet has enabled global communities to form and ideas and resources to be shared more easily. However, the overuse of some technology has been linked to a decline in mental health, increased social division, and privacy concerns.
We take technology for granted every day – even when it’s delivering us the latest news in an instant, making our cappuccino, or connecting us with a loved one halfway across the country (or even the world).
Of all the recent innovations, which are the ones that we truly couldn’t imagine everyday life without? Has the coronavirus pandemic made us even more reliant on tech, or helped us overcome the year’s challenges?
We take a look at the seven most important ways that tech has impacted our lives in recent years.
Improved Communication
“Come here Watson, I need to see you.” These were the first words that Alexander Graham Bell uttered over his revolutionary invention back in 1876, and it's fair to say that the trusty telephone has had a good run. Bell originally dreamed that there would be ‘one in every town’. He was right of course – in fact, these days, there’s one in every person’s pocket. However, technology has seen the traditional audio call being edged out in favor of messaging and social media as a way of touching base.
Another medium that has seen a boom in the last few years is video calling. It’s nothing particularly new – the concept has been around for about as long as Bell’s telephone – but the revolution of high-speed broadband at affordable prices means that it’s now easy to send and receive the amounts of data needed for a video call.
While video calling has spent the last decade slowly creeping into daily life, it’s the ongoing pandemic that has pushed it over the edge and secured its future as an everyday way to stay in touch.
Thanks to lockdowns and social distancing, families, and friends are meeting up and socializing via video call more than ever before. If you hadn’t heard of Zoom last year, you will have certainly become aware of it this year, and while there are plenty of other video conferencing apps out there, it’s Zoom that has emerged as the poster child for video chat in the public consciousness. This is backed up by the firm's impressive claim of 300 million ‘daily participants’ earlier in the year, compared to ‘just’ 10 million back in December 2019.
It’s not just social lives that have been transformed by video calls, either. The pandemic has also meant that more of us are working from home than ever, and in-person meetings have been replaced with video conferencing as office staff swap the boardroom for the bedroom (or wherever else they can find space to work at home).
While Zoom is a great tool for catching up with buddies, can it do the job of supporting your business through the pandemic? We’ve evaluated several high-profile video conferencing systems, and can help you find the right one for your company in minutes.
Decreased Privacy
We’re spending more of our lives online than ever before. According to one report, Americans spent six and a half hours a day online in 2019 – a stat that is bound to have skyrocketed since lockdowns started.
Shopping? It’s done on Amazon. Catching up with friends? It’s FaceTime, Snapchat, or email. Want to be entertained? Netflix, or online gaming. Research? Hit up Google. Almost every facet of our daily routines can be catered for online today, so it seems inevitable that our time spent online will only increase.
While access to everything online gives us an unparalleled level of convenience, it has also made us vulnerable. Every move we make online is recorded, and we leave digital footprints wherever we visit. Hackers and scammers know this and work hard to exploit it for financial gain.
Of course, as with everything else, technology has also given us the tools to protect ourselves and ensure that we are safe as our lives migrate online. In 2021, this is even more key – many of us are not only browsing for personal reasons, but accessing shared work networks from our own homes, and we can’t rely on the closed-off security of the physical office.
One piece of technology that will help keep your data safe is the password manager. A password manager will protect your existing passwords, suggest new and secure ones, and in some cases, even monitor the web to ensure that your details aren’t compromised. Not only that, but it will do away with that ever-present fear we all have of forgetting one of our many, many passwords. If you don’t have one, there’s never been a better time to invest –plus, with some of the best apps only costing a few dollars a month, it’s a great low-cost solution for added security.
Another great security advancement is the Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN will bypass your internet service provider and mask your digital footprints. Nobody will be able to see the content you are accessing, and it makes you a lot less susceptible to hackers. You can also use public Wi-Fi accounts with more confidence. Many businesses have adopted them recently, as well as home users. Our recommendation? Surfshark. It's packed with features, but is also simple to use, which is why it rated so highly in our VPN head-to-head review.
Finally, there’s anti-virus software, providing a great shield from all the nasties out there on the internet looking to catch us out. This includes ransomware and malware, which are usually designed with the intent of extracting money from victims. From individuals to the government, nobody is immune, and good antivirus software is a great way to capture and quarantine such efforts before they can wreak havoc.
Accessible Shopping
As we’ve mentioned, shopping has found a convenient and popular home online, but that’s not to say the high street is to be ignored – after all, you can’t really beat seeing a product in the flesh before you buy it, and you can’t eat out online just yet (you can order a delivery, but that’s not quite the same)…
Technology hasn’t bypassed physical shopping either. Thanks to contactless cards and phone payments, we don’t need to worry about handing over cash or keying in a pin number – just tap to pay, and you’re done.
If you’re a business, then a Point of Sale (POS) system is a huge boon, regardless of your size. With a POS, not only can you make payments electronically, but you can also automatically manage stock levels, create electronic receipts, manage loyalty schemes, manage sales, and so on. It doesn’t need to be costly, either – POS systems start at around $30 a month, and some even offer free hardware. To find out more, take a look at our POS system reviews, and compare POS systems today.
Of course, you don’t need to leave the house to shop. With the vast majority of us owning a tablet, laptop or smartphone, we’ve all got easy access to a virtual shopfront right in front of us, where we can buy pretty much anything we want.
Technology has also democratized retail. It used to be the case that you needed a physical presence to start your own shop – now all you need is a computer and an idea.
Sharing your wares with the world is easier than ever. This is thanks to the simplicity of website builders – tools that can help you create professional-looking websites in minutes, then sell your products or services.
Better Information Access
Today, if you want to find something out, it’s no more strenuous than a couple of clicks. For many of us, we don’t even need to move from the spot – simply pull out your phone and get Googling, or even ask your smart home assistant.
It may seem like a distant memory, but it wasn’t so long ago that you’d have to take a trip to the library to find out more in-depth information about a subject if it was available at all. Now, due to these advances in technology, you can find hundreds of thousands of web pages dedicated to pretty much anything you can dream of, from “crochet patterns” (Google gives 129,000,000 results) to “Roman history” (1,360,000,000 results).
It’s something of a cliche, but there is literally an app for anything, and they’ve rendered a lot of other mediums all but obsolete for many of us. Take GPS, for example – if you want to know how to get somewhere, it’s simply a case of pulling up an app like Google Maps and choosing the best route, which will come complete with directions, as well as satellite imaging. There are even apps for businesses that automatically route vehicles alongside traffic, weather, safety, and legal information. App technology has also made learning, dating, dining, and almost anything else you can think of a lot easier for us.
Not to be overlooked either are the actual devices that all these apps run on. The rise of the smartphone has been exponential over the last decade, and daily web searches on mobile devices now outnumber those on laptop or desktop computers. Improvements continue to be made to handheld devices, each and every year, without fail.
The mobile phone is now considered an essential device for almost everyone, vastly superseding its original use as a telephone (to actually talk to people), and becoming our pocket-sized portal to an online world.
Virtual Social Lives
Another seismic change in our lives has been the introduction of social media. This industry has progressed fast, and the early days of the likes of MySpace and the original iteration of Facebook seem like a bygone age already. Services such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and others now give us an insight into the waking lives of others in real-time, whether they’re friends with a few followers, or celebrities with millions.
Businesses have got in on the act too, and a savvy social media manager is considered essential in most companies, with their ability to make or break a brand's reputation.
Social media's course over the last few years has been somewhat bumpy, but as a society, or many societies, we’ve never seen global communication on such a scale. It has enabled the rise of social commentary and movements, such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, as well as leaving us vulnerable, with the likes of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal serving to manipulate voters and skew democracy.
America has also seen its first President relay information primarily via Twitter – we’ll leave that up to you as to whether or not that’s a positive.
Social media can be fun, but studies have also shown that it can have a detrimental effect on our mental health. It’s so bad, in fact, that some governments are calling for social media companies to be more responsible – especially when it comes to younger users. A study in the UK found that 46% of young girls reported that social media harmed their self-esteem, so there’s clearly a lot to fix.
Ultimately, social media is only as positive as the hands of the people it’s in – but it looks like it’s here to stay, whether you like it or not.
As a consumer, you can choose to opt-out, but businesses yet to get in on the action will soon fall behind the competition. Digital marketing is a hugely important aspect of any company with an online presence, and an essential one to get right.
Flexible Working
2020 will be remembered for a lot of negative reasons, but one of its most defining positives has been the widespread acceptance of working from home. With the pandemic in full swing, many had to abandon their offices and log on from their own residences. At its peak, 42% of Americans were working from home, according to one study. And even once this pandemic has passed, the trend looks set to continue, with large companies such as Twitter and Microsoft already stating that their staff can work from home indefinitely.
For many, working from home has been something of a revelation – no commuting, more flexible hours, a lessened environmental impact, and being able to choose where they work from. All this is made possible thanks to technological advancements, yet again – a perfect marriage of hardware and broadband.
That’s not to say working outside the office doesn’t have its challenges – organizing employees who are spread across various locations successfully can certainly present problems. But yet again, our friend's technological progress comes to the rescue, this time with remote working software, which can aid in organization, time management, goal focus, and structure.
Smarter Health Tracking
Another trend in technology has been the rise of fitness devices. While we’ve been using tech to help us stay trim for many years now, we’ve never before been able to do it to such a scientific degree, with instant feedback and recommendations from devices that can monitor our workouts as we complete them.
If you want to know how invested we are in the fitness tech market, look no further than Apple, whose Apple Watch is heavily advertised as a fitness device. In 2019, the company sold 31 million of them, making it the most popular watch brand in the world – far surpassing the likes of traditional brands like Rolex and Omega.
So what can a fitness watch actually do? We’re far beyond the days when your ‘sports watch’ could merely record your lap time. We now can monitor our heartbeats and blood pressure, track and monitor exercise plans, and even monitor our sleeping patterns.
If you’re looking to buy one this year, Tech. co has reviewed and compared some of the best fitness watches out there – including FitBit, Apple Watch, and Garmin Forerunner – to find the best features and budget.
So, there we have it – seven dramatic ways that technology has impacted our daily lives for good. Of course, technology never takes a rest, and you can bet that it won’t be long before some of the devices and services we’ve covered here are superseded – in many cases, their next iteration is already being worked on in a lab somewhere. Regardless, there’s no denying that technology has, and will continue to, have a huge impact on our lives, in one way or another.
9. Why we're dependent on technology so much?
As useful as technological advancements have become, its use has become so commonplace that many people are beginning to show signs of dependency. Here we explore 15 signs that you may be dependent on technology:
Nothing Can Be Done Without the Internet
If you're looking up information online and your Internet goes out, will you leave your home and travel to the nearest library? Or pull out your old encyclopedia set? If you lost your Internet connection while you were doing something online that can be done offline and you choose to wait until your Internet is reconnected, there's a chance that you have trouble doing anything without the Internet.
You’re Not Living in The Moment, You Record It
If you're experiencing a special moment (such as the last minute of a sports game or your favorite song being played at a concert), are you taking it in or are you holding up your smartphone, recording it to post to social media later? If you're recording it, then you're just experiencing it through a screen like everyone else will once they view your video, making your experience no more special than theirs.
You Lose Track of Time When You’re Online
If you go online and get lost watching YouTube videos or chatting on social media and hours pass without you even realizing it, then you may have an issue regarding your use of the Internet. You shouldn't have a problem keeping track of time and staying focused on your original reason for using the Internet when going online.
You use Calculators for Simple Calculations
Calculators are incredibly helpful tools. They allow you to solve complicated math problems without having to use a pencil and paper. They also prevent you from making mistakes, which could have consequences depending on the situation (such as if you're busy filling your taxes). However, if you've gotten so used to using your calculator that you're using it even for the simplest math problems that you should have no trouble doing in your head, then you may be a little too dependent on their use.
You Feel Anxious Without Connection
Even though human beings are social creatures, they should learn how to be alone with their own thoughts. If you suddenly begin feeling anxious because you haven't connected with anyone and want to interact with someone on your phone or computer, then technology has made you too dependent on having a connection at all times.
You Are Addicted to Your Mobile Phone
How often are you checking your smartphone? If you're constantly using your smartphone to check your social media, use your apps, play games, surf the web, and more, then you're addicted. Another way you can tell is if you're getting a dopamine rush whenever you hear your phone make a sound. It's the same rush that gambling addicts get when they spin a roulette wheel or throw a pair of dice onto a table. It's the anticipation of checking your phone that causes this rush, which is a sure sign that you're addicted to your smartphone.
You Don’t Remember Any Phone Numbers
Before cell phones, people would have to write down phone numbers or simply remember them. Certain phone numbers you would have to remember in case you were outside of your home and you needed to call someone in an emergency. If the only phone number you can remember outside of your home is your own, then you may be a little too dependent on your smartphone.
You Find it Difficult to Sleep
The process of sleeping requires the natural creation of melatonin in your body. If you're using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop right before you go to bed, then the light from these screens will delay the release of melatonin, making it more difficult to go to sleep.
You Don’t Go Out Enough
Technology has advanced so much that you could stay at home for the rest of your life without going outside. If it's gotten to the point where the majority of your social interaction is occurring online and everything you buy (from clothing to groceries) is through some sort of app, then odds are you're not getting out enough.
You Allow Machines to Dictate To You
Computers and phones can now dictate text to you. If you've chosen to implement this option so that you don't even have to read text, then you're way too dependent on your technology.
You Have Lost Your Creativity
As a child, your creativity is fostered by playing with toys, drawing on paper, doing arts and crafts, and more. The development of your imagination goes hand in hand with the development of your creativity. However, if you're using technology for all of your creative endeavors, such as using photoshop and similar apps to draw or paint, it limits the use of your imagination. Children who grow up playing video games instead of playing with action figures and dolls won't develop their imagination as much either since video games, while interactive, present existing stories and characters to the players.
You Believe That Brain Games Make You Smarter
Brain games certainly have some benefits to them, such as improving hand-eye coordination and possibly improving memory skills (useful for the elderly). However, if you think that playing brain games is how you get smarter, then you're woefully mistaken. Reading books makes you smarter. Experiencing real life makes you smarter. Brain games do not make you a more intelligent person.
You Lack Human Contact Making Your Social Skills Poor
Posting comments on YouTube and Twitter is much different than speaking to someone in real life. You have time to formulate your thoughts before writing them and you don't have to deal with the consequences of posing disrespectful comments. If you find that you have trouble maintaining a conversation, keeping someone's interest, or being sensitive when interacting with someone in real life, then your lack of regular human contact has hurt your social skills.
You Obsess Over The Latest Gadgets
If you're constantly reading up on the latest gadgets and can't help but buy new gadgets whenever upgrades are available, you may have an addiction to technology. You don't need to upgrade your smartphone every six months. If you're upgrading gadgets just because of a new feature that barely affects their performance, you're obsessing over your gadgets a little too much.
You Have No Concern For Your Privacy
If you are posting content to your social media accounts so regularly that you may be oversharing (such as posting that picture of you passed out in the bathroom after drinking too much to Instagram), then you no longer have the concern for your privacy that you should have. When you're not giving your privacy much thought when interacting online, it could come back to bite you in the future (most employers will sift through the social media profiles of job candidates).
10. Do humans really need technology?
Technology is now a necessity in terms of everyday life, from education to navigating around a city. We no longer communicate with the outside world and ask for directions, instead, we look inwardly and we ask Siri. As technology improves we rely more and more on our smartphones, so much so we are becoming lazy in every way. Spelling is becoming worse, for example, we no longer need to think for ourselves when we have a spellchecker at our fingertips, we can ask Siri to perform calculations for us or ask Siri to ask Google to solve any problems we may encounter. We heavily rely on our phones for everyday tasks, such as checking train times, finding locations, and even just checking the time, technology is slowly overtaking our lives and we are falling into lazy habits to let it.
The need for technology goes further than this if we look at the iconic photo of people experiencing a moment through their phones, taking photographs and videotaping it to get likes on their social media accounts to fill their egos, whereas an elderly lady experienced the moment through her own eyes, taking everything in.
We heavily rely on technology for basic tasks, such as the Internet to connect people from all areas of the world for business and social reasons. We now communicate through various social media platforms and emails to produce goods in one country, import them and distribute them to any location in the modern world, with the ability to track its location points. This has created a more impatient consumer allowing Amazon to capitalize on its Prime feature with same-day deliveries, meeting the customer’s needs for instant satisfaction.
Social Media: necessity or addiction?
The need for social media can go further than just connecting with friends and family from all over the world, there are people with genuine addictions to social media proving how far the necessity of technology has come; it is taking over people’s lives. The need for constant updates on news, friends, and notifications from social media is consuming us. While performing an everyday task there is an unconscious need to constantly refresh social media platforms for the want of something more, such as a notification or a news article. The constant need for more has allowed our own unconscious mind to play tricks on us fooling us into thinking our phone is vibrating with a notification; there can even be a sense of anxiety when people do not have their smartphones with them. They have a fear of missing something such as a news update, a current trend, or an update from their friends. This is causing problems such as people actually waking up to check their phones during the night as a constant need for an update or fear of missing out. One particular study highlights this in teens, losing sleep over social media, heavily affecting their education. “21.6 percent of the younger cohort (12- and 13-year-olds) and 22.5 percent of the older cohort (14- and 15-year-olds) said that, “they almost always wake up during the night to use social media.”” The accessibility of technology is now so easy, Internet access is the fastest it’s ever been and handheld devices can do everything we need them to. This has led to a technology addiction with this constant need for more that is controlling people. The necessity for technology is certainly affecting the younger generations due to how accessible it is from being born, and how it is connecting younger people more and more through instant messaging and various social media outlets.
Is Too Much Technology Becoming A Problem?
Social media usage is increasing exponentially with the majority of people who have Internet access having a social media account, or numerous social media accounts. It is connecting us all but on a much more serious scale, it is affecting our real-life social skills. If you walk onto a bus, train, tram, or tube in the UK you will see more people’s eyes glued to their smartphone with their fingers racing the next person’s to get a new notification. We no longer take in our surroundings and instead of speaking and connecting with people on that particular mode of public transport we choose to use our phones as a shield to stop us from stepping outside of that comfort zone. With this comes many implications, such as social anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is an increasing statistic and the repercussions of it are terrifying. There has been a spike in teen suicides and a large part of this has come from cyberbullying, according to dallasnews.com, “suicide is second only to accidents as a leading cause of death for adolescents, passing homicide for the first time.” Technology can be considered to blame due to how accessible it is and how teens are becoming overly reliant on their smartphones and the constant need for social media.
On the other hand, technology is making us lazy, tasks are made much more simple. For example, cooking instructions are at the tips of our fingers and we can even order every single grocery item needed for that dish to be delivered whilst sitting at home. All this extra time freed up gives us even more time to use technology! We would use this time to delve into the latest Netflix series, play on an Xbox or scroll through endless feeds of social media. We are using technology to free up time to use more technology, a vicious cycle.
However the use of technology to use more technology isn’t always bad, the introduction of Fitbit, Apple watch, and Polar watches have seen an increase in people using technology to track their fitness. The use of these devices can track steps taken, running distance, speed, and heart rate to monitor their progress and calories they burn to keep as fit and in shape as possible. Technology is becoming necessary to track all of these things and it is being made easier to do so as technology develops. Technology is becoming necessary in all aspects of our lives, it can have many positive and negative effects but it is down to us to limit the negative and find ways to boost the positive. We are now very reliant on technology and if it was to be taken away for any given reason we would be very lost. It connects us in all kinds of ways creating a global hub of activity through the Internet and has advanced us in ways that were only imaginable 30 years ago, from medicine to surgeries to aspects in our everyday lives. Technology is now a need and it is our responsibility to limit the control it may take over our lives.
Reflection
This course has opened my mind to how influential technology is on our lives from the various mini-missions, in-class discussions, and topics. They have given me a variety of information and perspectives I would have never considered thinking about. In topic A, for example, the writer went to his hometown in the remote areas of Dakota and discussed how much the Internet has influenced and changed modern society giving me a new perspective of how influential technology is on our lives, a perspective I would have never considered.
Another particularly engaging task was the monitoring of our social media usage; this really opened my eyes to how much time we spend (or waste) on social media. It gave a perspective on how much time we spend doing mindless tasks on our smartphones. Throughout the course, I have also gained a new perspective on how much information we also reveal on social media allowing marketing firms to target us in many different ways, whilst also knowing rather personal information. I feel this can be seen in a positive and negative light, marketing firms can offer their products based on our wants which may not have been possible without revealing personal information to social media, however it can be a scary thought to know somebody on the other side of the world knows so much information about you through one social media site.
A topic that particularly stood out to me was the Internet of things; the amazon KIBA robots were interesting. The ability of the robots can be exciting as well as daunting; they could wipe out an entire warehouse workforce once a technology becomes advanced enough. However it can also be quite exciting for what’s to come, AI and programming for robots are at very early stages but as it develops their own minds may be able to create more efficient and more intelligent ways of doing things. The possibilities of what’s to come are literally endless but our reliance on technology is becoming increasingly concerning.
Overall my experience in digital society has opened my eyes to how much we actually depend on technology and our time using social media. It has allowed me to consider the changes I need to make to not be fully reliant on technology but determine when technology can be used to benefit me and when I am using it due to lazy habits. I would like to believe that I am using my iPhone and other pieces of technology to benefit me when I truly do need their support rather than relying on them for even the smallest of tasks.
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