The “scariest” thing happened to me last week. My phone just randomly dropped dead. Reason: unknown. I didn’t have a phone with me. I didn’t have any contacts. I didn’t know what was going on in my Facebook friends’ lives. I didn’t have a clue what my favourite celebrities were tweeting about. I had no idea what my Whatsapp friends were saying. Nobody could get in touch with me. I should be fine, right? You guessed it right, no I wasn’t, not even a little bit. I was restless. I needed to know. I was never this girl who read newspapers, except for probably the entertainment parts and the puzzle pages. But, now I missed the notifications from the news app about the happenings around the world. I realized I didn’t have a working watch because I had my phone to tell me the time. I had to look for an alarm clock because that’s what my smartphone also worked as. You know how long this went on? Just for two days, two whole days, 48 hours without a phone. This made me wonder a lot how technology seemed to have shaped our lives. Because the moment I got hold of a phone, it felt like all was right in the world again.
Being born in the nineties’, I feel like I have a twin sibling in Technology. As I took my first baby steps, so did technology. From the first hand held wireless mobile phone to the first tablet, everything was made available on our fingertips. The transition was the easiest for us of all generations; we learnt the faster and more efficient ways to do things. I remember back in school, where we learnt how to use a computer, when I got my first e-mail id and the pure joy of discovering how near our dear ones could get with the internet. As time passed, technology became omnipresent in our lives, and something we cannot live without these days. I remember holding a wireless phone in my hand and feeling powerful; printing out my first assignment in class V. For a generation which is born into tablets and smartphones, they miss the significance of what they have or rather what they don’t.Internet has made life easier for us. It has brought the world closer to us - friends and family, information, news around the world – everything a click away. Everything happening in even a tiny corner of the world is brought to us, our relatives living in another continent altogether. So wouldn’t you say, it is all for the betterment of the world? I would say, mostly. While social media brings us closer to our friends and families in other cities or continents, it also moves us farther from the people around us. While it facilitates the ability to obtain information anywhere and anytime, it decreases our ability to retain information or the need to learn something. While it is reducing our amount of work, it is increasing the harm it is causing to our health. I can say that my generation has seen and experienced both of these, and maybe affected more than others.
At a point of time back in school, to rely a small message to a friend, we had to go through the ordeal of calling their landline number and asking for that person if someone else picks up the phone, which is very uncomfortable and annoying if a greater amount of communication is required in a day for any reason whatsoever. Now, within a snap of a finger, we can send as many messages as possible with a smartphone that most of our generation seems to own. The problem comes when we start preferring messaging to talking on the phone to actually having a chat with someone face to face. Social media has made us socially awkward in a group of people – I belong to this generation that can chat for hours, but put them in front of someone and there is absolute silence beyond a few minutes. We are awkward with long conversations with acquaintances and reluctant to make friends from acquaintances.
Information has empowered us, we can now know in a matter of few seconds, where/why/how/what/who/when is anything happening/has happened/is happening. I can finish an assignment sitting in the comfort of my home instead of travelling to a library. I can now read books in my tablet instead of buying books in the nearest bookstore. It is economical as well as with minimal work. But what we miss is the beauty of holding real books and leafing through their pages. I can now find my own way without asking someone for directions using the GPS on my phone and has helped me in quite a lot of situations. While all sorts of information is accessible, it sometimes diminishes our thirst for knowledge. We tend to learn about something only if and when required.
Nowadays, we don’t have to get up from our seats, information comes to us. It has greatly minimized our efforts. Lack of exercise and movement has increased our risk to diabetes and obesity. The present generation has forgotten the art of going outside to play games like hide and seek and is growing up playing video games and Angry Birds on their dad’s smartphone instead.
Technology has played a wide role in my education, my relationships, and my life as a whole. But I hope we do not lose ourselves in this world wide web of technology.
Being born in the nineties’, I feel like I have a twin sibling in Technology. As I took my first baby steps, so did technology. From the first hand held wireless mobile phone to the first tablet, everything was made available on our fingertips. The transition was the easiest for us of all generations; we learnt the faster and more efficient ways to do things. I remember back in school, where we learnt how to use a computer, when I got my first e-mail id and the pure joy of discovering how near our dear ones could get with the internet. As time passed, technology became omnipresent in our lives, and something we cannot live without these days. I remember holding a wireless phone in my hand and feeling powerful; printing out my first assignment in class V. For a generation which is born into tablets and smartphones, they miss the significance of what they have or rather what they don’t.Internet has made life easier for us. It has brought the world closer to us - friends and family, information, news around the world – everything a click away. Everything happening in even a tiny corner of the world is brought to us, our relatives living in another continent altogether. So wouldn’t you say, it is all for the betterment of the world? I would say, mostly. While social media brings us closer to our friends and families in other cities or continents, it also moves us farther from the people around us. While it facilitates the ability to obtain information anywhere and anytime, it decreases our ability to retain information or the need to learn something. While it is reducing our amount of work, it is increasing the harm it is causing to our health. I can say that my generation has seen and experienced both of these, and maybe affected more than others.
At a point of time back in school, to rely a small message to a friend, we had to go through the ordeal of calling their landline number and asking for that person if someone else picks up the phone, which is very uncomfortable and annoying if a greater amount of communication is required in a day for any reason whatsoever. Now, within a snap of a finger, we can send as many messages as possible with a smartphone that most of our generation seems to own. The problem comes when we start preferring messaging to talking on the phone to actually having a chat with someone face to face. Social media has made us socially awkward in a group of people – I belong to this generation that can chat for hours, but put them in front of someone and there is absolute silence beyond a few minutes. We are awkward with long conversations with acquaintances and reluctant to make friends from acquaintances.
Information has empowered us, we can now know in a matter of few seconds, where/why/how/what/who/when is anything happening/has happened/is happening. I can finish an assignment sitting in the comfort of my home instead of travelling to a library. I can now read books in my tablet instead of buying books in the nearest bookstore. It is economical as well as with minimal work. But what we miss is the beauty of holding real books and leafing through their pages. I can now find my own way without asking someone for directions using the GPS on my phone and has helped me in quite a lot of situations. While all sorts of information is accessible, it sometimes diminishes our thirst for knowledge. We tend to learn about something only if and when required.
Nowadays, we don’t have to get up from our seats, information comes to us. It has greatly minimized our efforts. Lack of exercise and movement has increased our risk to diabetes and obesity. The present generation has forgotten the art of going outside to play games like hide and seek and is growing up playing video games and Angry Birds on their dad’s smartphone instead.
Technology has played a wide role in my education, my relationships, and my life as a whole. But I hope we do not lose ourselves in this world wide web of technology.
7 comments:
I wonder whether technology is ruling our lives or vice versa. Thank God you have retained the writing skills despite the tech and apps. Sravya, you have penned (with finger tips on the touch phone) the ideas very well. Only thing is we should not be lost in the silicon jungle.
Thank you, Dad! :)
Interesting and contemporary subject many psychologists have been working on. Obviously technology is making us it's slave and lazy too. We can't deny the fact that we need technology but controlling ourselves from getting addicted is important. I sometimes abstain myself from using technology for few days(not completely though) mostly I try not to check my phone, I turn the wifi off just so to make sure I can live without it. Otherwise, if prolonged I constantly hear my notification sound in my head even though it's not buzzing :P
As you said, technology has played a wide role and it continues to do so. That's why we call ourselves civilized which means progress otherwise I'd have to lit a fire to burn steak tonight :D (though I'd love to live in the wild).
I should stop now, it's an interesting topic and we can go on and on. haha!
Nicely written and to the point. That school part made me feel nostalgic. And yeah! our generation witnessed the progress in technology. Kids now a days won't understand how it feels to copy something into a floppy disc :D
Sorry couldn't stop myself from sharing this thought.
Another interesting angle to look from about what I said. Kids now a days won't understand how it feels to copy something into a floppy disc. Similarly, our past generation might think that we won't understand how it feels to play music through gramophone player or listen to a folklore concert. And subsequently I guess our future generation might crib about how it feels to go to school by bus instead of getting teleport-ed (If teleporation becomes reality in future). That's the thing, every generation thinks the next generation is worse and the previous one is dumb. Hehe.. something to ponder about.. :-)
True.. I guess it was more difficult for me since I live away from home and I need it to be in contact with my family.. :) But yes, it is nice to abstain ourselves once in a while from social networking!! :)
Read an article recently where he compared the use of gadgets as "Domestic Violence" where families do not sit and talk at the dinner table. Surprisingly enough he blamed the technological advances in space and military to this, as all the gadgets we use, at some point, were a military or space prototype. You carried your thought through and through and structured the article well.
Interesting. Thank you, Akshay :)
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