Thursday, July 7, 2011

Is technology making our lives better or is it taking over

By: Cole Buergi, Sr. Account Executive, Leonard & Finco Public Relations, Inc.

Skynet, an artificially intelligent system designed to safeguard America’s nuclear weapons, becomes self-aware and revolts against mankind in the blockbuster movie Terminator and its sequels. I can remember watching Terminator when it premiered in 1984 and thinking how scary it would be if that could really happen.

Flash forward to 2011 and take a look around. Technology is everywhere, becoming an entrenched part of most people’s daily lives. Whether it’s a smart phone, iPad, laptop or some other technology gadget, like it or not, we are becoming very dependent upon them.

Are we getting close to creating a real life Skynet situation where technology rules our lives or tries to take over?

No, that seems a bit extreme to me but it is amazing to see how technology has changed our lives, much of it for the better and, arguably, some of it for the worse. Today you have apps that can start your car from anywhere, turn lights on and off in your home, find the music you like or monitor your health. You can Skype with people around the world or post photographs for the entire world to see in mere seconds. Convenient technologies for most and, if you can think of it, there is probably an app for it.

On the flip side, technology allows you to be tracked just about everywhere you go, you can be reached 24 hours a day by anyone and it’s almost impossible to get away no matter where you go. Even worse from my perspective is seeing teen’s texting each other while sitting only a few feet apart. I’m not exaggerating.

I, for one, would struggle without technology. I rely on it heavily for work and for my personal life. Could you “survive” a week or even a day without technology? Imagine what that would be like. What would you miss the most? Do you ever fear we are too dependent upon our little devices?

1 comment:

kr said...

I think one day without technology would be super tough for me. From my smartphone I do just about everything from texting, emailing, posting on Facebook/Twitter, storing my shopping lists and more. It's sad to think about but it's unusual for me to go an hour without checking my phone for some reason or another.