Likes & dislikes of technology

The characteristic of technology I like
most is definitely the ability to access information quickly. If I’m doing a
research paper I can just go online and Google something rather than search
through stacks of books, pining through pages and pages of information, while
looking for something useful. If I am ever curious about
something I can pull out my smart phone and have the information I am seeking
within ten minutes. The ease of accessing information is leading to exponential
growth in discovering new technologies. According to scientist and author, Ray Kurzweil, “An
analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is
exponential, contrary to the common-sense ‘intuitive linear’ view. So we won’t
experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like
20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate)” (www.kurzweilai.net). Therefore,
the ability to access information is only getting easier and more convenient.
The characteristic of technology I
dislike is when it does not work. Certain technologies provide the users which
such high expectations of their abilities, so people rely on them. Then when
they fail, users have a tendency to get frustrated with it because it does not
meet their expectations. I am one of those people who get extremely frustrated
with technology. I feel I spend half my awake hours waiting for pages to load
or trying to fix my computer with my limited knowledge in technology. And I
know I am not alone because when I mentioned this is what I disliked while in
class on Monday, several of my classmates reacted in a way that seemed like
they felt the same way. “In a Sunday Star-Times readers' poll, almost half of
respondents said they became so irked with technology they resorted to yelling
at their computers or phones. Almost half of those surveyed (47 percent) were
driven to yell occasionally and 10 percent frequently found themselves driven
to shout (stuff.co.nz). Technology frustration is something inevitable, but it
is an obstruction to the many positives.