Technology and Society

Technology has affected people’s lives both in a positive way and in a negative way. The most obvious negative way is that people are losing jobs everyday because what they used to do is now being done in a better way through the use of technology. All jobs now are in some ways tied to technology. I was looking at a commercial and saw that the “actors” in the commercial were not real people. They looked animated or even like avatars. I am sure that money is being saved by using these fake people, but is it really necessary. I didn’t really care for it. On assembly lines where people used to put products together by hand, those products, like automobiles, are now being put together by robots. Also, people become attached more to their technology tools than to other people in their lives. They have to be on their computer, I-phones or Blackberries, I-pods, mp3 players, and so on all the time, even when they are walking or driving a car. It was in the news a few weeks ago that a lady was on her cell phone in a mall, texting, and walked into a fountain It is almost to the point where no one talks to other people, face to face, anymore. There are text messages or Skype or other ways to communicate. There are only 24 hours in a day, so the time spent with these toys is time not spent with family and friends.
Technology has improved people’s lives as well. It has made people’s lives easier. Chores are easier. Floors used to be swept with a broom, then came the vacuum cleaner that had to be pushed by someone and now there is a vacuum cleaner that runs on its own. The computer has made people’s lives easier too. Instead of using books for research, there are tools on the internet that will help you find more information quicker on any topic than having to look it up in books. The internet also is a place where you can meet people like on face book or my space. It is just important that you don’t give out too much information about yourself. Books are now being downloaded so that they may be read electronically, either on the computer or on portable computers like the Nook or Kindle. People’s lives are being saved because of the use of technology in medicine. Doctors use technology to help them diagnose patient problems and during operations. And to show how dependent we have become on technology, just let the electricity go out for a few hours. It sometimes will cause a panic because we do not know what to do without our televisions, music, computers or Wii systems. But our parents and grandparents did. So technology does affect our society in both positive and negative ways, we have to make sure that we don’t let it take over our lives completely.