I have a brother three years younger than I, and growing up with him has made me realize how fast our technology is changing. Whenever new technology came out, he wanted it, and it was funny to me, because I would always think, “I didn’t have that when I was younger, you can live without it.” But even though technology is always changing, I am happy about it in some ways. What I am most thankful about it is being able to keep in contact with all my friends. On the other hand, technology keeps changing, and that makes it hard to keep up with the new updates and everything else one might need to make it function correctly.
Communication is very important in my life. I grew up in upstate New York and now attend college in Pennsylvania. True, the distance is not that far in comparison to others who attend my school, but far enough that I cannot go and drive back home for a weekend. The fact I have a cellphone to call my parents whenever I want is also a huge plus for me. I am close to my parents, so knowing that whenever I have a problem, or want to tell them exciting news, they are only a press of a couple buttons away, makes me very happy with how far technology has gone. Also, this past semester I was abroad in Northern Ireland, and it was hard to call them as easily as it was at college. Instead I was able to use Skype on my laptop, yet another part of technology that I love. And not only with my family, but my friend’s back at home, or even at college; I was able to keep in touch with all of them, no matter how far away. Skype originated in 2003, and since then has continued to improve the program.[1] So within the last 8 years (almost 9) Skype has made a huge name for itself, with it being accessible from one’s TV, cellphone, or computer.[2] My life would be a little harder if I couldn’t keep in contact with all of them as easily.
Technology is always changing, and the fact that it is, makes it hard to keep up with the advances. And when finally one buys a new piece of technology, to then be told that there is part of it that doesn’t work properly, its frustrating. One because that person just bought it, and second because how many people actually know how to fix the technology they have in their house, nonetheless brand new technology. Computers have been out for a while, getting smaller, coming in all shapes and sizes, and overall most people know the simple ways of fixing their computers if something small happens. When something bigger happens, then it is time to pick up the phone and hopefully get a person to help them that way. I understand that we can’t all be technology experts, knowing how to fix anything if something happens to our technology, but it is frustrating when out of no where, someone’s technology decides it doesn’t want to work that day. I do understand that compared to years before, what we used to have wasn’t as easy as we are making our lives now.
Technology has definitely changed our lives over time; especially mine for both the positives and the negatives. I am sure that around the time I want to have a family, the technology will have improved that much more, and things I talk about today will be things of the past. Until then, I am glad about the communication in my life, and hope to improve my knowledge in how certain technologies work, so that I have a better chance in fixing them.
As you said, it's frustrating when your technology doesn't want to work that particular day- but there's an issue behind that. That recurring error message or frustrating crash happens because of poor programming (most of the time). No matter how far technology advances, it is likely we will never overcome the common bug, just as we cannot overcome the common cold.
ReplyDeleteProgrammers can make their code stronger by relentlessly debugging, but for more complex programs, users will always be able to find new errors. The only fix is to patch. If you'd like to read more, there's a famous article on it here: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~cah/G51ISS/Documents/NoSilverBullet.html
[No Silver Bullet by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.]
I agree with your comment pertaining to the common bug, it is an inevitable occurrence. In the past year I've had my fair share of technological debacles, however my dependence for technology still remained. I also have some paranoia about this simple bug as well, I believe that some bugs are planted for the perpetuation of consumer-company interaction (i.e. GeekSquad and hardware customer service providers.)
ReplyDeleteThis cycle I strictly believe has a great deal to do with concepts like commercialism and consumerism. These machines aren't made to last forever, especially if you make good use of them. I have found myself buying a new computer every 2 years or so, let it be known that much of my purchasing choices are made by the cosmetic appeal of a product or the lack of that appeal in my current product, yet these purchasing habits are common in many places of the U.S.
I appears to me that this simply shows a mark of the time:
Economy sucks,
Lets go buy iPads.
(This may become a thesis for a topic later in the course.)