“I cant live without my phone” - A study into the global effects of advancing technology and it’s direct impact on today’s society.
“There has
been more technological improvement in the last 50 years than in the previous
5,000” (Bowman, 2010) and it is a struggle to remember what life was like
in society before mobile phones, tablets, laptops and before the Internet
became readily available for the everyday person. “The devices we use change
the way we live much faster than any contest among genes” (Wu, 2014), therefore
how has this huge impact affected us on a direct level and what are the
implications of being exposed to such a vast array of new technology now at our
fingertips? Many of us refuse to confront the impact these advances may be
having on our lives and choose to ignore the underlying/hidden relationships we
are beginning to grow with the products of this technology. “I can’t live
without my phone” is something we aren’t short of hearing in society and poses
the question: how much are we becoming reliant on technology today and are we
really at a point where we are unable to get by without it?
Education has benefitted greatly from technological advancements mainly
due to the large wealth of knowledge now accessible to us thanks to the Internet
and online resources. Students are able to research and pursue their interests
a lot easier, more efficiently and at a much lower cost by way of online learning,
online courses and even full/part time degree programs. Distance learning has
meant that foreign students are now able to study in their home country whilst
still receiving the high level of education available in leading developing
countries such as the UK and America, without having to make the costly and
daunting move across seas.
Student education would often suffer because of a schools limited budget
and resources. With online learning and connectivity, schools and their
students are able to stay up-to-date with the leading curriculum in their
country by staying connected to other schools, teachers and students and are
also able to attend online seminars at other institutions from the convenience
of their own classroom. This increase in technological education has seen a
rise in new job opportunities. Accessible education, learning and knowledge has
meant there are an increasing number of doors open for anyone wishing to pursue
a certain career, change careers or learn a new skill in their spare time,
increasing their employability.
It was not too long ago that keeping in touch with friends and relatives
that we did not see on a day-to-day basis was something extremely difficult to
maintain and quite impersonal. Communication as a whole has been one of the
main benefits from the advancing technology on our planet, becoming a much more
personal experience with the likes of social media outlets, mobile phones,
email and the introduction of the iPhone face-time and Skype applications
meaning we can see and talk in real time with someone on the other side of the
world. These advancements in communication have meant that owning a device with
this technology has become more popular, therefore more common and cheaper,
meaning more and more people across the world are able to afford to stay
connected with each other.
Businesses can now appeal to, employ and connect with employees in
company outlets all around the globe instead of just in their local area. This
is the same with customer bases, as once the business has expanded into online territory;
customers are able to access the company and products, increasing growth, success
and overall customer service of the business.
Despite technology having played a large part in many of the ecological
issues we face today, advancing and improving technology has meant that we can
now aim to reverse a large amount of these negative impacts on the planet.
Green technology such as wind and water turbines as well as solar panels
have helped us invent and apply renewable heat and energy resources, cutting
down on the use of fossil fuels. Technology has also helped make a huge ‘go green’
environmental movement across most large countries possible, by enabling people
in their households to control the waste they produce and monitor their carbon
footprint and recycle material they use on a day-to-day basis.
Agriculture has benefitted from improvements in technology, allowing a “small number of people to grow vast quantities of food
in a short period of time with less input” (Ramey, 2012). This has meant a
higher return for local and small time farmers who have managed to match and
supply the growing demand for fresh produce over the years. Agriculture has
also gained thanks to the manufacturing of fertilisers to help keep destructive
insects and pests at bay, and genetically modifying crops to meet the demands
of the consumer and producing healthy and quality yields all year round.
Healthcare has seen its fair share of benefits from the advancement in
technology, not just from the indirect advancements in the science behind
certain treatments and conditions but on a more direct level in which we have
access to on a day-to-day basis. With healthcare information readily available
and accessible to people in their homes on personal devices such as mobiles and
laptops, information about certain conditions can be addressed and assessed by
someone experiencing them at that present moment, instead of having to wait to
be seen by a professional. There is now a wider range of healthcare help available
especially in the UK, such as NHS direct, healthcare call centres and out of
hours services. Doctors and hospitals are able to keep patient records up to
date on an online database, so that the medical history of a patient can be
accessed at any time, reducing the risk of incorrect treatment and building a
clearer picture of what the patient needs from their history of illness,
vaccinations and operations etc.
Communication with healthcare professionals, such as doctors has also
improved. With many practises now automated, patients can receive the care they
need at a much quicker pace resulting in a much smoother, less stressful
environment for the patients. Technology has enabled doctors themselves to be
able to contact specific professionals in the field anywhere in the world for
advice, or read textbooks dedicated to the practice for consultation of certain
conditions– should they need a second/third opinion on what is the best
diagnosis to give or treatment to administer.
Technology has meant that the accumulation of medical research across
the world has enabled experts to advance healthcare, treating more and more
people directly and more effectively, thus bringing what was once was
inaccessible treatments, right to the person in need.
Some advances and improvements in
modern technology have clearly helped shape our lives for the better and had
many positive impacts across the world in areas of business and productivity,
science and healthcare, education and the environment. However ‘careful examination of history reveals
that the rate of technological change actually accelerates over time. Due to
this exponential rate of improvement, we are actually only seeing the beginning
of disruptive, transformational changes in technology’ (Bowman, 2010). There are
many negatives to the advancements of technology, some of which we choose to
ignore or are not conscious of in our every day lives.
Technology has had such a major impact on the way we communicate and
interact with one another in all aspects of our daily lives. Instead of the
need to make arrangements to meet each other in person in order to speak to one
another and stay in touch, we now have the ability to do this using an
electronic device such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
This has meant that people are increasingly becoming dependant on ease
of using these devices and “have forgotten about the basic principles of being
human” (Robinson, 2011).
This lack of physical face-to-face interaction on a very basic level has
meant that people are becoming increasingly isolated, relying on external
devices as their tool for communication instead of meeting people in person as
much as they would have before these devices and methods of electronic
communication were so popular.
This reliance on technology means that many people experience a high
level of pressure to keep up with the demands of social networking and also
have a high level of anxiety, leading to a rise in depression when the desired
level of attention from peers, colleagues and/or family members is not
received. “Technology is not just serving us, but in ways changing us as well” (Lund,
2012). This has played a large part in young adolescents lacking the basic
social skills and confidence needed in order to form their own identity at a
young age and when making important decisions about their lives and future.
“Our phones and tablets have become weapons of
mass distraction” (McFedries, 2013) and are the underlying reason for the
many issues we face as a distracted society. Having such easy access to the
wide array of communication such as social media sites, texts and email, means
that more and more people are becoming addicted to this way of communicating
with each other and find it hard to concentrate on the present due to
constantly checking their mobile phone. A survey carried out in America
throughout 2014 showed that 90% of all adult Americans have a mobile phone, 67%
of which “find themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts, or calls –
even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating” (Mobile
Technology, 2012). “According to data recorded in 2012 by Pew Research Group,
29% of cell owners describe their cell phone as “something they can’t imagine
living without” (Oberlander, 2014) and
although this is something we are not short of hearing in society, it is
clearly an issue when we have become so reliant on a piece of technology for
our much needed human interaction and communication.
With mental health issues becoming more apparent with the stresses
brought on by direct advancing technology, it is not surprising that there are
also physical health implications as a result as well. With more people
choosing to use technology as way to communicate and interact with one another,
less people are venturing out of the comfort of their own homes when there is
little need too, therefore are not receiving the level of exercise that they
need. Technology and entertainment as well as communication devices, has meant
that more of us spend our time watching TV, playing video games and talking to
friends online, than we do being active or physically socialising. This developing
behavioural pattern and need to stay continuously connected and entertained, has
also led to environmental issues. While there is an active effort being made by
leading technological companies to create electronic devices and products that
are more environmentally friendly, energy usage is still the highest it has
ever been simply because people want to keep their devices on in order to stay constantly
connected.
With new technology comes an increase in consumerism in our society and
a demand for upgrades of our systems and products. More of our money is being
spent on replacements causing out-of-date products to be disposed of in a
majority of un-environmentally friendly way.
Technology has ultimately made it easier and more affordable to buy a
new upgrade than it is to repair our old products, keeping people in line with
the advancements in technology, but ultimately feeding our need to have the
latest in technology and in turn feeding the increase in pollution and waste.
'Our will-to-comfort, combined with our technological powers, creates a stark
possibility. If we’re not careful, our technological evolution will take us
toward not a singularity but a sofalarity. That’s a future defined not by an
evolution toward superintelligence but by the absence of discomforts' (Wu,
2014).
Bibliography
Visual Examples (for discourse analysis):
 |
|
Fig.1, Klarenbeek,
J. (2013) ‘Passive’ [poster] A.U.S., Positive Posters. Available from:
<https://www.behance.net/gallery/11314027/Positive-Posters-design>.
|
.jpg) |
|
Fig.2,
Luchi, F. (2012) ‘Digital Jailhouse’ [illustration] B.R.A., Go Outside
Magazine.
Available
from: <https://www.behance.net/gallery/3790149/Go-Outside-Magazine-Jailhouses>.
|
 |
|
Fig.3,
Thibault, A. (2013) ‘Cops vs Hackers’ [illustration] U.K., Readers Digest.
Available
from: <http://sebastienthibault.com/READER-S-DIGEST-Cops-Hackers>.
|
 |
|
Fig.4,
Peitersen, M. (2012) ‘Art Meats Technology – The Anatomy of Gadgets’
[illustration] D.N.K.
Available
from: <http://madspeitersen.com/4x3rlk1ufbwpsrxun4a4xs9bgc0kvd>.
|
 |
|
Fig. 5,
Holcroft, J. (2012) ‘Apps’ [illustration] U.K. Available
from:
<http://johnholcroft.com/portfolio7.html>.
|
 |
|
Fig.6,
Gerrell, S. (2013) ‘Neuromorphic Computing’, [illustration] U.K., The
Economist.
Available from:
<http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21582495-computers-will-help-people-understand-brains-better-and-understanding-brains>.
|
Internet Sites:
· Bowman,
J. (2010) ‘The Lightning-Fast Pace of
Technological Advancement.’ [Internet] U.K., Daily Reckoning.
Available from: <http://dailyreckoning.com/the-lightning-fast-pace-of-technological-advancement/>
[Accessed 20th November 2014].
· Wu, T. (2014) ‘As Technology Gets
Better, Will Society Get Worse?’ [Internet] U.S.A., The New Yorker. Available
from:
<http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/as-technology-gets-better-will-society-get-worse>
[Accessed 20th November 2014].
· Ramey, K. (2012) ‘Impact of
Technology on Society’ [Internet] U.K., Use of Technology. Available from:
<http://www.useoftechnology.com/technology-society-impact-technology-society/>
[Accessed 28th December 2014].
· Bowman, J. (2010) ‘The Lightning-Fast Pace of Technological
Advancement.’ [Internet] U.K., Daily Reckoning. Available from:
<http://dailyreckoning.com/the-lightning-fast-pace-of-technological-advancement/>
[Accessed 20th November 2014].
· Robinson, M. (2011) ‘Where Do We
Draw The Line?’ [Internet] U.K., WordPress. Available from: < https://writing4media.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/where-do-you-draw-the-line/>
[Accessed 21st November 2014].
· Lund, B. (2012) ‘Retail Conundrum –
Looking Up?’ [Internet] U.K., Global Toy News. Available from: < http://www.globaltoynews.com/2012/09/retail-conundrum-looking-up-.html>
[Accessed 3rd January 2015].
· McFedries, P. (2013) ‘We’re Being Driven to Distraction by Clamorous Computing’ [Internet]
U.K. Available from: < http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/embedded-systems/were-being-driven-to-distraction-by-clamorous-computing>
[Accessed 21st November 2014].
· Mobile Technology Fact Sheet. (2012)
[Internet] U.S.A., Pew Research Centre. Available from: < http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/>
[Accessed 3rd January 2015].
· Oberlander, J. (2014) ‘The Trouble
With Technology’ [Internet] U.S.A., The Register. Available from: < http://www.omahacentralregister.com/780/opinions/the-trouble-with-technology/#prettyPhoto>
[Accessed 20th November 2014].
· Wu, T. (2014) ‘As Technology Gets
Better, Will Society Get Worse?’ [Internet] U.S.A., The New Yorker. Available
from:
<http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/as-technology-gets-better-will-society-get-worse>
[Accessed 20th November 2014].
Books:
The Technological society. / Ellul, Jacques
(1967)
Cell phone culture: mobile
technology in everyday life. / Goggin, Gerard (2006)
Future imperfect: technology and
freedom in an uncertain world / Friedman, David
(2011)
|
The
singularity is near.
/ Kurzweil, Raymond (2006)
Tomorrow's
people: how 21st century technology is changing the way we think and feel. /
Greenfield,
Susan (2003)
Mind
change: how digital technologies are leaving their mark on our brains. /
Greenfield,
Susan (2014)
|
Future minds: how the digital age is
changing our mind, why this matters and what we can do about it. / Watson, Richard
(2010)
Being digital. / Negroponte, Nicholas
(1996)
The perils of progress: the health
and environment hazards of modern technology and what you can do about them. / Laura, Ron
& Ashton, John (1999)
The internet and society. / Slevin, James
(2000)
Brave New World / Aldous Huxley