Opinion

Could YOU live without technology?

I wouldn’t go as far to say that we are completely dependent on technology, because we are not. Realistically, we could survive without the use of technology. However, I do believe that technology plays a significant role in today’s society.

Forget the days where mobile phones were non-existent, where children played on the streets instead of on their xbox and where you had get off the internet in order to make a phone call – Welcome to the era where technological devices are everywhere.

When I go on public transport, such as train journeys, I often look around and take in what is happening around me. There are people sitting quietly taking in the view out the window; there are people chatting to their friends; there are people reading books and very often e-Readers; But the most common thing I see, is people on their mobile phones.

Not that I am saying that is a bad thing – I am guilty of it myself – However, it does show you how much technology is used in day-to-day life without you even realising it.

I decided to do a small research study myself to find out how people use technology and how reliant they are on it. I handed a short questionnaire to 14 people and then analysed the results.tech chart2

It is clear that nearly all of the participants use their mobile phone, television and the internet daily which did not surprise me at all. Using these particular devices has become a part of everyday life and you certainly do not think twice about using them. The use of mobile phones and the internet is a perfect way to communicate with people, as well as using them to play games, shop online, read the news and much more.

Technology appears to be useful and convenient in so many different ways. One way is how useful it is for arranging events. On the social media site, Facebook, you are able to create events and invite friends along to them. You have the ability to decide whether the event is private or public, therefore securing issues of safety. Emails are another useful way of sending a batch of invitations quickly and with no cost, instead of writing invitations by hand and sending them in the postal mail.

When carrying out my study, I asked the participants how they stay in contact with friends which resulted in ten stating through social networking sites, and thirteen through texting them. I then stated that they are planning on inviting friends to an event they are hosting, how would they go about inviting people? Ten stated that they would make a Facebook event to invite people, whereas just three said texting people and only one said by sending an email.

I thought that this was a really interesting way to see how we use technology in this day and age. Not one of the participants stated that they would send an invitation through postal mail, which supports my thesis of technology playing a huge role in our lives today.

Just to get an idea of other people’s opinions of this particular assumption, I finally asked all fourteen of my participants whether they think society today is too reliant on technology. Ten participants stated that yes, we are too reliant on technology today, as opposed to one who stated that we are not. The final three participants were unsure. A couple stated that we are becoming more unsocial today due to having the ability to resort to technology when we are bored, and instant messaging people to chat rather than meeting them or phoning them. Another stated that wherever they go, whether it is a restaurant or out shopping, they see people on technological devices wherever they look.

I found this really interesting to look into due to how much times have changed over the last couple of decades. Gone were the days of children knocking on their friends door to go out and play and sending letters to stay in contact with people. These day’s a text message or an email seems the obvious thing to do first.

I don’t think it is a bad thing that technology plays a large role in our lives these days. I think it is a fantastic way to learn new things, keep in contact easier and is much safer when finding yourself in emergency situations, due to the ability of quickly getting your mobile phone out and dialling 999. However, I do wonder what role technology will play in our lives in 10 years time. It is constantly advancing, so it is interesting to wonder whether we will be more dependable on technology in 10 years time, than ever before.

What do you think?

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