In the world today, technology is by far the biggest influence in our everyday lives. Technology structures the way society works and they way our cultures grow. It has always been a major factor, but since the new millennium started, technology has rapidly advanced. As humans, we have adapted to this growth and we are constantly changing. Technology has made improvements in many things, but the question is; "Has the technological influence been good or bad?" These are the questions society asks themselves everyday. What pros and cons come from this rapidly progressing technology? Are certain types of people excluded from the advancements? How does technology set the standard of living? Technology can influence and change more than we know and realize. We asked people to respond to such questions and this is what we received.
Modern Technology and Culture
By: Austin Myers
As a single culture, many would consider us technologically savvy. It would seem that we are always trying to improve upon existing gadgets, making them thinner, faster, lighter, more ergonomic. As a whole, we consume trillions of dollars’ worth of technological goods every year. It would seem that everyone uses technology quite regularly, but there are many who don’t, many who remain solid to the “old fashioned” way of life. These people come from many backgrounds but, it would seem that age is a factor to whether or not one uses technology.
There is a popular idea that the children and younger people use technology the most, with the trend being that after a notable age, people’s interest in technology diminishes, with the elderly using it the least. This notion is in no way a highly studied truth, just a preconceived idea we have picked up from those around us. In regards to children, there was a study conducted recently by the nonprofit common sense media that found that thirty-eight percent of children fewer than two years of age use smartphones or tablets regularly. The study also found that the children use the devices on average for forty-five minutes a day. This might lead one to the question of, “Why, do such young children have access to phones at such an early age? Well, there are many reasons as to why children are frequently using and embracing technology. Many use their parents’ phones to play applications, and children are expected to learn how to use computers in school.
The opposite is true for the aging population. Many aging people might not have had a cell phone or computer until they were much older. People from my parents’ generation didn’t see affordable personal computers until they were in college. Because these people never needed a computer before, some jumped on the bandwagon, while others did not. Many elderly seem to dislike technology. Some claim that technology is unnecessary, as they would have no use for it. Some elderly are afraid of technology. Maybe it is the lack of internet security, or whether or not they might break their computer physically or through software. Some may see technology as a way to create a problem for themselves. But the attitude of the elderly towards technology is changing.
Many elderly individuals have started to use smart phones or computers. And it could be attributed to the ease of using new technology.
In a research paper written by Dr. Dobrila Lopez, the use of technology was modeled by David Bagozzi. His model was created in 1986, and the Technology Acceptance Model he created is still very relevant. We still use the same ideas he presented in the design of consumer electronics. It states that the acceptance of technology is only affected by two things: Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Ease of Use. Perceived ease of use is very self-explanatory; it is how useful technology is to those how can use it. Perceived usefulness is how useful technology appears to the user. These two constructs could be used to explain what we are seeing today. Technology from the user’s standpoint has gotten much easier, and there are far more uses for technology today than there were at any time in recent history. For example computers used to be large behemoths that had a text based interface. This had a large learning curve and the device was at its infancy. Email was very basic and the internet was virtually nothing compared to today. These aspects made the ease of use for early computers poor and with that their perceived usefulness low as well. But as time progressed, computers grew portable and the interface became clean, simple, and easy to navigate. This could also explain why more children and elderly are using new tech. The clean and simple interface on phones and computers are far less abrasive and archaic than what they were when they became big in the 1990’s. You no longer had to be a ‘geek’ to use a computer, or buy time to use internet. As technology becomes even more simple and useful in everyday situations, then the two constructs by David will become even truer.
Technology in this rapidly changing world is a very special sight. Unlike any other point in history, technology has allowed us to find, read, and share enormous amounts of information. While most individuals have come to enjoy and use the latest and greatest of our technological gizmos, there would still seem to be a sizeable amount of people that do not.
There is a popular idea that the children and younger people use technology the most, with the trend being that after a notable age, people’s interest in technology diminishes, with the elderly using it the least. This notion is in no way a highly studied truth, just a preconceived idea we have picked up from those around us. In regards to children, there was a study conducted recently by the nonprofit common sense media that found that thirty-eight percent of children under two years of age use smartphones or tablets regularly. The study also found that the children use the devices on average for forty-five minutes a day. This might lead one to the question of, “Why, do such young children have access to phones at such an early age? Well, there are many reasons as to why children are frequently using and embracing technology. Many use their parents phones to play applications, and children are expected to learn how to use computers in school.
The opposite is true for the aging population. Many aging people might not have had a cell phone or computer until they were much older. People from my parents generation didn’t see affordable personal computers until they were in college. Because these people never needed a computer before, some jumped on the bandwagon, while others did not. Many elderly seem to dislike technology. Some claim that technology is unnecessary, as they would have no use for it. Some elderly are afraid of technology. Maybe it is the lack of internet security, or whether or not they might break their computer physically or through software. Some may see technology as a way to create a problem for themselves. But the attitude of the elderly towards technology is changing. Many elderly individuals have started to use smart phones or computers. And it could be attributed to the ease of using new technology.
In a research paper written by Dr. Dobrila Lopez, the use of technology was modeled by David Bagozzi. His model was created in 1986, and the Technology Acceptance Model he created is still very relevant. We still use the same ideas he presented in the design of consumer electronics. It states that the acceptance of technology is only affected by two things: Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Ease of Use. Perceived ease of use is very self explanatory; it is how useful technology is to those how can use it. Perceived usefulness, is how useful technology appears to the user. These two constructs could be used to explain what we are seeing today. Technology from the users standpoint, has gotten much similar, and there are far more uses for technology today than there were at any time in recent history. This could also explain why more children and elderly are using new tech. The clean and simple interface on phones and computers are far less abrasive and archaic than what they were when they became big in the 1990’s. You no longer use lines of text to navigate a computer, or buy time to use internet. As technology becomes even more simple and useful in everyday situations, then the two constructs by David will become even more true.
Technology, A Big Part of Society
By Will Lutz
Technology is a part of everything we do in todays society. Everyday it seems like there is a new update or advancement in technology. With all this new technology, it seems hard to imagine living without it. Although it has made life much easier on us, I believe there are many negative effects to technology, especially to the younger generation. I can remember my grandparents telling me stories about how they grew up before phones and computers. Of course it was harder to communicate and a lot tougher to find information, but they did not need it. Technology would have helped a lot of people in the past, but sometimes I think we could learn something from the older generation.
In one of the articles I was reading when I researched this issue, it talked about how our society has become too dependent on technology. Some people, mostly the younger generation, have become “addicted” to their cell phones. A lot of people can not go five minutes without checking their Twitter or Facebook. This has caused many problems in the classroom at school because kids won’t pay attention if they are too busy playing a game or texting somebody else. Another inappropriate place they always have their phones out is while they are eating. These articles talk about how some kids are having trouble being social because they always have their phones out and they mostly just communicate through texting or social media. One of the most dangerous ways cell phones are affecting people is texting and driving. Texting has not been around for many years so this was never a problem in the past. But in today's society, around 6 billion text messages are sent a day. In the US alone, more than 9 people a day are killed from distracted driving, which is usually the result of cell phones. With the new smart phones, people will try and look up music or message somebody while they drive, which is a huge distraction for drivers . I know that personally sometimes I become distracted while I drive. Whether I’m talking on the phone or trying to send a text, I have had a few close calls on the roads. It is easy for me if somebody needed to talk to me, but I always run the risk of becoming distracted. Even if you put it on speaker phone and put it in your lap, it still could distract you when you answer or end the call.Another way people are too dependent on cell phones is in academics. Teachers and students fall victim to this. For example, if teachers cant get the internet to pull up and are having problems with the computers, they do not know what to do and can not teach class unless it is fixed. Students on the other hand, sometimes rely too much on information. Technology has made it so much easier for students to find information and learn more about a subject. But when they can not find something on the internet or the teacher would not let them use the internet, they have trouble. I think students are less creative and not as good problem solvers as a result of this.
When people think of technology, they sometimes forget the negative effects it can have on us. I believe technology can continue to help make our lives better and easier over the years. But I think our generation needs to be able to live without technology instead of let it run our lives all the time. It will be interesting in the future to see how dependent we are on technology compared to now; and if anything will be done to monitor how much technology we use.
Technology and A Younger Generation
By: Desean Petty
As technology keeps advancing at a rapid pace it is becoming increasingly more and more second nature to the younger generation. The question this raises though is that is this a good or bad thing for the future of the younger generation? A lot of people think that this generation is becoming more and more dehumanized with the overuse of technology. They say this because with the daily use of technology there seems to be less family talk time and a huge decrease in social practice. If this is true then this would be a negative effect on the younger generation because that means they would no longer know how to be social or maintain a decent conversation with one another. If you actually observe the world today most people are not interacting with each other because most of them are too busy piddling around with their phones. I am definitely guilty of this because I am always on my phone whether I’m walking to class or just laying around in my room. Sometimes me and my roommate go hours without speaking because we are both too busy interacting with our phones instead of each other. Texting perhaps has the biggest negative impact on the social interactions of people. If you think about it when you text you are not necessarily accountable for what you say and you can hide what you really want to say by editing or deleting your message before sending it but in a face-to-face conversation you can’t do that. Many employers believe that much of the younger generation do not know how to have a conversation due to this. I think using technology in moderation rather than overusing it would help with this specific social problem. Using technology and knowing how to use it is definitely not a bad thing though because in this generation if you don’t know how to use it your chances of getting a good job decrease tremendously. In saying that though this generation and the generation after us should not let technology interfere with knowing how to be social or interact with each other because if you don’t know how to converse with someone, then that will also decrease your chances of getting a job, it might even obliterate it.
3D Printers
By: Robert Harris
Three dimensional printing has been growing in popularity since its creation for various reasons since its conception but I have no doubt its being limited. It’s being limited for several reasons ranging from “unethical” test, future economic problems, and the sheer cost of the machines.
The main unethical test that has become a major media scandal is artificial and stem cell created organs. It’s very clear where this idea unethical about these test is from the many stem cell research labs. Many religious groups have spoke out against stem cells because they believe they all come from aborted fetuses, which only take up 10% of all stem cell research and that the 3D printer test haven’t used. They’ve actually made the organs from chemically-induced stem cells created through adult cells; so all in all, people are making this out to be a problem when it shouldn't even be an issue. Misinformation about the test being performed on 3D printing technology is what is causing these ethical issues, but thats not all.
Design, manufacturing, and jobs are being put at risk by 3D printers. At the moment it is not a threat but it could be very soon. 3D printers were created and have been used for prototyping. This means that it can make working duplicates as long as it receives the right instructions. Now how would this affect industry and manufacturing? Like I stated before it is not a problem right now because a 3D printer would burn a 3,000 dollar hole in your pocket but it is significantly cheaper than what they were worth a few years ago. You're probably this does not sound like an issue but many believe that a 3D printer would be pretty common in most homes so heres where the problems start. People would be able to make, repair, or design anything they wanted with the click of a button; a lot of other peoples jobs rely on needing these services and its likely to take a huge toll on the economy.
Despite the ethical issues, industry risk, and cost of 3D printers I love them more than hate them. As digital media major they present a way for me to pre-render and keep pieces of my work alive even if I lose the files. As for the over production I think as long as we regulate them there won't be an issue.
Technological Dependencies
By: Jacob Freeman
My roommate woke up one morning with his computer completely shut down and no way of turning it on. He had no way of working on anything. This set him back because he had to wait for IT to fix his problem. He was worried that he was not going to get homework turned in on time and miss important emails.
This just shows me how dependent we are on such simple machines. A laptop is something that a few years ago almost no one had. Now everywhere you look every student has one right at hand at almost any time. When this privilege is taken away from them they quickly become lost and incomplete.
Not only are our student’s dependent on this technology our teachers are also. If a teacher has his or her computer taken away classes would halt. At any university the teachers could almost not function without out their computers and projectors. In my normal week the only class that doesn’t use any form of technology in the classroom is my Calculus I class. All others use a projector to show all lectures and main points of the lecture.
Just imagine a day without a class with a projector in the front of the class. Our teachers would have to actually write out what they want us to know on a chalk or whiteboard. Our students would pay more attention because they wouldn’t have the internet right at their fingertips to distract them during lecture. Meaning we would learn and comprehend more of the information. This scenario doesn’t sound too bad to me. What about you?
Today I sat at the red light while I was heading to sisters house. I sat there watching as people followed the orders of the light without second thought. Some not even looking before they went, just followed what they were instructed to do by the light. Just think if something happened to this system. What if it crashed, what if it malfunctioned, changing the lights at random instead of in sequence. Many would follow these lights without a second thought. Causing many to be killed and injured. Technology is an amazing thing but when you don’t think while you are using it, it can become harmful if not deadly.
Although this technology has improved us as people and helped us learn more efficiently and quickly. It has also made us a very fragile world of people. If the world had their technology removed for just one day it would fall apart. The stock market would crash and the government couldn’t function. I believe we should try to be a less dependent world this would improve us as people and as a world has a whole. When I was a child and even now I love getting a new book. The sound of the binding creaking as it was opened for the first time. Or the smell of an aged book for thats been in an old library for years. To me there isn’t a better sound of scent. Lets go back to taking handwritten notes, reading books with actual pages, and turn our computers off and talk to someone in person more often!
Modern Technology Reliance
By: Alan Freer
Technology is generally viewed as a good thing that helps society. Today medical care is better than it has ever been. Information is flying around the internet making it more accessible. Smartphones allow many people to stay connected and perform many of the functions of a computer from the palm of your hand. So what happens now? Technology has become such a significant part of our lives that most people don’t know what they would do without it. People my age and older lived through the period where cell phones because popular for more than just business calls and eventually led into the massive smartphone market today. The younger generations and future generations won’t know anything besides having smartphones and tablets at a young age.
We are moving into an age that is entirely reliant on technology. Technology in some form impacts every aspect of our lives. If some natural disaster happened that wiped out the electrical grid, it would cause complete chaos. Even now I feel nervous when I don’t have my phone with me for more than an hour, imagine being completely disconnected. If it is possible to have separation anxiety with an electronic device than this would lead to an epidemic. I don’t expect this situation to get any better in the future as technology is constantly becoming an even greater part of our lives.
Rising Issues in Technology
By: Lauren Price
You are going to the store. It might be any time of the year, but your computer broke down, and you need a new one. That computer had lasted ten years, but all of a sudden you’ve received a virus, and at an inconvenient time at that. You have a paper to write, that’s all you need the computer for. You go to the store, and find the computer department. In that section are lines of computers, mostly laptops, and you look at the prices. Which ones are better? Which ones are going to break down on you within the year? Would you know which was which? Remember, this was sudden, and you haven’t done your research. Would that sales clerk really help you, or would he be trying to steer you towards that thousand dollar section as soon as he realized you didn’t know what you wanted? This situation may seem like the consumer’s fault, but at the heart of it, we all realize it could be any one of us. In today’s market, you can’t make split second decisions to buy something. Those decisions always end in heartbreak, and a hurting wallet. In some circumstances that sales clerk may very well get you to buy what you need, but for most of us there will be this feeling of regret. This situation doesn’t happen as often anymore, but it is still relevant. Go up to a sales clerk in the computer department, and ask them how many customers don’t have all the information they need to properly understand which computer is best for them to use. I’m sure the number will be small, and that’s why he is there; to help you. But is he really helping you, or the company?
Another issue that had risen in the last decade, is that of the older generation, or our grandparents. Most of us have grandparents who have no idea what to do with the technology thrown at them. My family had gotten my grandmother a camera for her birthday. She wanted one, so we all pitched in to get it for her. The one thing that had slipped everyone’s minds was the part of what if she had no idea how to use it? There were instructions to help her with it, but they had become increasingly more wordy, and harder to understand if you didn’t keep up with the changing world of technology. My grandmother was in an increasingly smaller class of consumers that didn’t have the drive to follow the path of ever changing technology. This fact hurt her in the end when they went on their trip to the mountains and tried to take pictures with the new camera. Instead of pictures they came home with video, and while they were okay with this. I knew it certainly didn’t make them anymore fascinated with technology. These companies are primarily shutting doors for the older generation, not opening them, and allowing that generation to be a part of the social groups. This could all be fixed by companies making easier to understand manuals, or simplified controls, but companies have made no such move.
Transitions from old tech to that of the modern age can be difficult enough for anyone, due to the gap that has grown. The seventh generation of video game consoles versus those of the upcoming eighth generation is a good example of this. Companies have leapt from one aspect of technology to another, and those wishing to enjoy simple luxuries find themselves with infinitely more than they bargained for. The debate over the Kinect sensor on the Xbox one is a clear indicator of how this jump can affect the consumer. The kinect sensor is making Microsoft be accused of trying to play Big Brother (1984) on the consumer. Many fear that the sensor can watch everything you are doing due to its ability to follow your form in the room, and the fact that it doesn’t turn off. This problem also could be helped by companies explaining things, but they refuse to assure consumers due to the fact that they could lose customers to their competitors, while they are trying to introduce the console to the market.
While consumers would see these points as incriminating, companies probably view this as a way to increase their pocket flow. Rendering devices and software obsolete allows them to continue making cash, and who can blame them? The only thing missing, though, is another audience to sell these products to, which means they are losing another chance at money. My grandmother says she strays from most technology, because by the time she figures it out, the device would already be too outdated, and I’m sure this isn’t a rare occurrence among that generation. It doesn’t help that there are individuals in all the generation groups who are honestly lost when it comes to technology, making the market a little harder for them to navigate.
I guess this all comes back to me in that I love technology, and these companies seem to know just how to profit from that. I want to share with my family how useful these bits of advancement can be, but it’s hard when they can’t understand it, and companies sticking to a status quo definitely do not help the situation. If anything, they make me want to rant about their shortcomings. I started summer worrying about xbox one, and its expected failures, and now I’m on a fast track to not being able to keep myself from the commercials. I wasn’t always like this. In the beginning I liked technology just about as much as the next person. To be honest, maybe it was in middle school that it all hit me. There were kids who had ipods, and all I had was this little Insignia. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t care enough to dish out the money for an ipod immediately, but as a kid you build this fantasy of what technology can do to your life. It didn’t help that around that same time I visited my friend’s house, and she had an xbox 360. Most of the games I had at home were on a playstation 2, and the whole Halo 3 experience she gave me, changed how I looked at technology. The experience though awing, wasn’t marked with great achievements. I killed myself several times without meaning too, and walked straight off the side of the mountain. On anyone’s skill index, I was pretty low, but the whole visit was a game changer for me. I got pulled into the market, and found that companies really knew how to play at getting the most from your wallet. Just sling this nice commercial of the sleek technology, and those advancement hungry consumers will jump at it. At least it feels that way when you look at the market and how it operates. It can seem like it isn’t the consumer who knows best, but the people who make the software. Maybe if they asked the customers what they would want out of a console, these console wars, and shortcomings could be resolved, and relieved.
Technology Shutdown
By: Maria Wood
As soon as I saw this question , I was interested. Today’s world is so dependant on technology it’s not even funny, so the idea of the world having to cope without technology just sounds disastrous. One might say, well people back in the day could live a life without all the technology and advancements but the thing is . . today’s generation grew up with technology and the people from back then who didn’t could handle it but today’s generation most likely couldn’t. Honestly, if the world didn’t have technology . . i’d be screwed . . lol if one wants the honest truth . . my parents never grounded me before but if i ever did get in trouble they would threaten to take my internet away because they know it’s that important to me . . i do most of my homework on my computer and use the internet for research and what not . . also, in college, i check my email every day and without it, i would be so behind in school but then again everyone one because technology wouldn’t opened at the time .. but yea, i use the internet everyday, all day, it’s sad . . really . . The thing we have to consider though . . is not only technology smartphones and computers but there’s technology everywhere and a lot of jobs depend on it. For example, the medical field . . many doctors, nurses, surgeons, and etc deal with technology like MRI scanning, X-Rays, other machinery, tools, etc etc. If technology was gone then all these developments that helps the medical field find cures faster or heal the sick will be gone . . and cure findings would slow down, the sick will get sicker . . disease will spread and people will die out. Also, a lot of people would be out of jobs if technology was disconnected . . For example, engineers, mechanics, computer engineers, pilots, dentists, teachers, and etc. Transportation systems would probably shut down or if a type of transportation was broke . . it can’t be fixed. Airports would shut down . . because the technology of ticketing, security systems, baggage claim area, etc would all be shut down; the airport could not run . . runway issues could come, electricity issues . . etc.
Technology has become a huge part of our daily lives whether people want to admit to it or not. The shutdown of technology, in all honesty, i feel would impact our lives a whole lot more than the government shutdown did . . because without technology . . a lot of things would not run. I’m really not sure how we would pick up the pieces . . i guess we’d have to go old style . . i mean back in the old days they didn’t rely on technology . . so i’m sure if it came down to it, we’d figure something out with the resources that we do have to fix situations that we ran in to. Also, if people lose their jobs then money is not being distributed to people, people are losing money, so they won’t go out and spend . . money flow will be messed up and the economy will probably crash. Also, the government would probably shut down, also . . because no money, no technology to do this, to know what’s happening . . they would all be lost at the white house. A disconnection from technology would cause mayhem.
Lose of Technology
By: DeSean Petty
Technology is a huge part of society today and most people use it to do their daily activities. We use it for entertainment, work assistance, and as a communication. Basically technology has become a dependent or necessity for humanity and it is becoming worse as time progresses. Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if technology just disappeared magically and we were forced to live like people did back in the old times? I believe the world would be chaotic and lost because we depend on technology for so much. Doctors would not be effective at their jobs anymore because most of the things they use like x-rays and operation tools are a form technology. Teachers would also be less effective at what they do because they use a lot of technology also like promethean boards and clickers, without these things teachers would have to go back to using chalkboards again which would bore students to death. The people that would be affected the most is students because we depend on technology the most. We use technology to write papers, calculate functions, read books, and find important information that we need to know, without technology I believe most students would fail and result in an extremely less effective educational system. Overall I think technology is needed in our lives and we should thank the people before us that have made it possible to use because without it we would be a very lost and disastrous world.
Technology has played a huge role in our society since the beginning of the 21st century. New, cutting edge technology that has emerged in recent years has, in many ways, drastically changed the way individuals and societies behave. Three-Dimensional printers, 24/7 connected social media, and complete, portable computers called smartphones that ensure the constant interconnected society that we live in today, are some of the biggest advancements in the modern world. With technology constantly changing and making life easier for people, what generally isn't noticed is the heightened dependencies on this easily accessible technology. Social media keeps you, your neighbor, and everyone else in the world as close as a few clicks away and smartphones ensure that this connectivity is present 100% of the time. Technology is being grasped by increasingly younger generations and older generations are blindsided by the drastic change in the level of technology that has occurred within their lifetime. It is amazing how technology has progressed in our modern civilization and many of the new, cutting-edge advancements majorly improve the quality of life of our societies. Many people are critics of all this new technology and some of them have good points, but technology isn’t going away. We, as a society, just need to realize our dependencies and, in the very rare occurrence of a massive technological failure, need to be able to rebound and not have civilization crumble in helpless technological dependence.
The moral here is that new technology is an amazing thing and greatly improves the life of modern society. The only thing that we need to do is keep in the back of our minds that it isn't perfect, and we are aware of our reliance. As long as we keep that in mind we can use this new tech safely and to the great benefit of society.
