Sunday 13 January 2013

This week's blog post: Is technology going too far?

I’m sure everybody would like to be able to claim that they could live without technology. I know I would, but quite honestly a day without my phone would probably prove a serious challenge. No instant access to the Internet to Google who ‘that actor in that film’ was, or to check Facebook pointlessly, just in case something mildly interesting has happened for once.

Are we becoming too dependent on technology, or are companies causing this dependency? Constant progression in the technological world means we’re constantly seeking an improved version to what we already have. Clearly, we don’t NEED what they’re offering in this progression as we’ve lived for years before without, say, Apple’s ever-so-pointless Siri. Yet, we as consumers get sucked in and decide such features are essential; that we could never go back.

But are companies now taking this too far? I would certainly say they are. Samsung’s new bendy smartphone, as shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show 2013, has got to be a step too far. For years we’ve lived with stable, rigid screens, but here we have a company shoving something completely new and unnecessary in our faces. Yet again, eventually we’ll fall for it and see it as a necessity, just as mobile Internet did.

At the end of the day, we’re all a little bit powerless to technology, and companies absolutely know this.

2 comments:

  1. I could definitely live without technology, however my quality of life would be severely affected. This does not cover, simply, social media or the internet; 'technology' dominates most aspects of life nowadays, including the way in which food gets to our plates.

    The consumer culture of Western civilisation (and, increasingly, developing countries) is indeed driven by and dependent on technology. But, why does it matter?

    What is 'too far'? In my opinion, so long as technology is available universally (to an extent), does not negatively impact human lives and does not negatively impact the environment (again, to an extent!), I'm not sure technology can go too far. It aids our lives and improves their quality. If there is a demand for new technology - even if it is as far-fetched as phones you can roll up into your pocket - then companies will supply it.

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  2. Whilst I think we are lucky to live in a world where information, communication and entertainment are only a click away, I do (as an old-before-my-time hippy) have some serious concerns about how dependant our generation is on technology.

    Mobile phones in particular mean that we are almost constantly wired in to our social and work lives with barely a minutes cessation throughout the day. The first thing we look at in the morning and the last thing on our mind at night.

    Blackberries and smart phones allow us to work whilst we commute, no doubt making us more productive, but also allow our works lives to pervade our homes - "out of office" no longer bears the same weight when you can quite easily carry your office in your pocket.

    In a world full on constant distractions it is increasingly difficult to find time to daydream, to invent new ways of keeping ourselves occupied and more interesting ways to while away our dead time. In the past a journey by train would have had us gazing out of windows, using our imaginations or (god forbid!) wrapped up in good conversation. With technology ever at hand we are rarely alone and I believe that to deprive ourselves completely of solitary time in our own company is a step back, not forwards.

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