Without a doubt technology has
changed the way in which we live every day of our lives. In order to understand just how much
technology has changed our lives I interviewed my mom, dad and uncle who grew
up in the 1960’s. Being that there is a
major gap between the generation in which they grew up in and the one I did I
asked them several questions to understand how they remember not having it, and
the changes they went through.
The first question I asked each of
my family members was; what was life like growing up without computer
technology? Without hesitation they
began to talk about the lack of up to the minute information. They described how if an event occurred they
would have to wait to read the next day’s newspaper or magazine to get the most
current information. In their opinion
this often became troublesome because they would sometimes have to wait a day
or two just to find out the end result in a major story whereas we are able to
find out within minutes of it occurring.
Not only was information slower to them as consumers but also
information was more tedious to come across.
They used examples of working on high school projects and research as
their next examples. My family members
stated that if they needed information they would have to search endlessly in
the library reading through many pages just to find the answers to their
questions. This is in stark contrast to
the process we go through to find information.
We simply hop on Google or an online encyclopedia, type our question and
within in seconds have the answers to our questions.
After hearing their stories
regarding gathering and staying updated on information it led me to my final
question; How has technology has changed the world in this context? I was able to sum up from the interviews that
the main point was the speed in which we can find answers and the most current
information. The three of them stated
that computers are updated by the second, which makes it easier to find out
information on world issues and such.
They also added that technology has changed the world in this context
because it makes research and answer finding much easier and more
productive. As workers in the business
world they stated how much time is of the essence and the less time spent
looking something up or finding an answer the more productive they can be for
the company, in turn making the company more productive as a whole. Not only do computers allow them to more
effectively look things up but communicate with others in their field, which
they felt was a major change that technology has had on the world.
For me growing up in the age of
computers and so much technology I consider myself very lucky. As my family stated we don’t have to spend as
much time looking for an answer. With a
simple click of the mouse we have the world in front of us. Kids back in the day could not text
constantly to stay close with friends in family they had to rely on maybe a
phone call a day to share everything with each other. Just like technology changes we as kids do
too and it is much easier to share these changes with people instantly over
Facebook, Twitter or texting and not only when we see them in school during the
week.
It is interesting to reflect on instantaneous communication/information gathering. My parents both mentioned the exact same thing. I can't imagine a world where you couldn't be updated as often as you like on news and events from every continent.
ReplyDeleteI interviewed my parents and uncle as well, and I got some similar responses, especially that they find it so much easier now to find information and be updated on the latest news, where as before it was much more difficult. But, do you think that the technology available today is too easily available? Do you think that it is too simplified?
ReplyDeleteLike you, I do consider myself lucky to have grown up with all this technology. I remember first learning how to type and loved it because it was much faster than writing. I can't even start to imagine what a difference it must be to our parents and other relatives who didn't have technology when they were younger. My parents as well commented about how quickly one can find something compared to back when they were younger. My mother said if she needed to look something up, she had an encyclopedia to do so. We used to have one in my house, it was huge, with very small print. Now it is a whole lot more easier to find information. If you are looking for a specific word on a website, all you need to do is search for the word, instead of flipping through books. It will be interesting to see what new technologies our future holds and what that means for us. What will we be telling our children about technology?
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