Using Digital Technology

Looking around today, it is hard to believe that about 100 years ago, there were not even cars to facilitate travel. The world around us is filled with technology and this technology makes our lives easier. At what point, however, does this abundance of technology begin to take away from our lives? I would argue that there is a potential for technology to overshadow everything else, but that that point has not yet been reached.

Almost everything that I do has been made better by technology. Whether it is school work that benefits from using a word processor and the internet, or figuring out my expenses on a monthly basis where I can use a spreadsheet, technology is very important. Although I am somewhat dependent on the media around me, I do not think that this is a bad thing. Technology has progressed enough that technology is reliable and trustworthy. Another example of digital media in my life is how I learn about the world around me. I watch television at night and check internet news sites throughout the day. It is difficult to imagine a world without radio or television or the internet. Newspapers are nice, but they are slow and it can be a drag to read all of the articles to find ones that are pertinent to my life. Television and the internet present information in a condensed manner and I do not have to deal with large unwieldy pages of a newspaper.

I am okay with my life being so dependent on digital media. I still think that there is no substitute for face to face interactions with other people. If I ever get to the point where I look forward to checking email or surfing the internet more than I look forward to meeting new people, then I think that there will be a problem. For the time being, the ease of email or the facility of the internet is a welcome shortcut to phone calls or meetings or newspapers. Until technology becomes an addiction, it will remain useful. However, once it becomes an addiction, I think that productivity will drastically decline; I am productive now because I can turn off my cell phone and computer and finish a problem set.

So far, technology and digital media have only helped me to become more productive: I have no problem using this technology as much as possible to make my life easier. At some point in the future, technology may overwhelm many people and begin to control their lives. When that happens, (and it probably has happened to some people) I think that these people have to be reminded that the real world has more than 1’s and 0’s could ever express. While technology is very useful, I think that there is a potential for it to become all-encompassing in the future. Because we have not yet reached this point, technology continues to serve as a great tool in most of my daily activities. I look forward to learning more about technology and leveraging it to make my jobs a little bit easier in the future.