far too dependent on technology in our daily lives however this is a statement
with which I strongly disagree. While it is true that technology can largely
dominate our lives and it is not uncommon to walk into the average family’s
house and see each sitting in front of a blaring television but on separate
electronic devices it cannot be said that we would not survive without it. The
technology we supposedly depend on today is all relatively new. Great scientists
like Albert Einstein, who proposed some of the basic physical rules we live by
did so with nothing but books and his own mind.
Technology is definitely useful, and without it
the world would probably not be what it is today. From computers the size of a
fingernail to medical advancements, cancer deaths for example have decreased by
20% in the last 20 years due to developments in technology. Technology in
general progressed at an accelerated rate in the twentieth century, an era that
began with the invention of airplanes and cars and ended with space shuttles,
mobile phones and wireless internet.
Children today are said to be spoiled, and we
hear stories of kids getting iPads, laptops and mobile phones for Christmas at
age eight. I had the “good fortune” to work in Santaland in Meadows and Byrne
and I admit, I did encounter these children but for every India or Crystal who
was getting an iPod, a puppy and a foot spa there were twelve Sarah’s getting a
princess Barbie and a dolls house. Is it really such a problem for kids to be
well acquainted with technology? I for one grew up in a computer-driven
household, I could install programmes before I could walk and I personally don’t
think I’m psychologically damaged as a result of it. Children are more prepared
for adulthood, they can become more independent from an early age and gain
valuable life experience.
There is some concern that technology is
rendering paper obsolete, that devices like the kindle are destroying good,
old-fashioned books and internet downloads replacing CDs. This is also a
statement that I disagree with. While the kindle has sold well, many agree that
it cannot possibly beat the smell and feel of a brand new book. Stores like the
book centre are still as full as ever and in 2010 reported record book sales
despite the release of the kindle in 2007. Many famous authors still write on
paper. JK Rowling wrote every single Harry Potter manuscript on paper, because
while laptops are handy, paper allows us to slow down, to think and collect our
ideas.
Saying that we are overly dependent on technology
is too vague a statement. It does not specify whether it refers to humans as a
whole or specifically to western culture. Regardless of this, a mere 4-5% of the
world’s population own a computer. Taken out of context this figure seems
pathetically small and it is important to note that only 30% of the world’s
population are wealthy enough to have a bank account however it still means that
about 95% of people get by just fine with no kind of computers whatsoever. Many
of us regularly express a wish to escape from all of the technology we encounter
on a daily basis, wealthy celebrities like Johnny Depp going so far as to buy an
island with no phones or internet. Surely this is not the mark of a race that
depend completely on this same technology for life? It is true that we depend on
it, how many of us are ever without some sort of electronic device in our
pocket, the fact that I’ve typed this on a computer is testament to that fact,
but I don’t think we will ever reach a point where we cannot survive without
it. Homo sapiens have been around
with in or around 250,000 years and we’ve had the internet since the late
twentieth century. If there was a massive solar flare in the morning and you
lost everything in your life that ran on a microchip how would you survive?
Pretty easily I expect.
Technology is nothing. What's important is that
you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you
give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with
them.
-Steve Jobs
C.P.