Description: With the recent BlackBerry outage, psychologist Linda Papadopoulos discusses how society is intertwined with technology.
Source: CNN.com
Date: Oct 5, 2011
Questions for discussion:
- Why can’t we live without our gadgets?
2. List 5 positive impacts of technology on our lives and list five negative impacts technology has had on our lives.
patricia ojuderi
people cant live without godgets because we use it as our security blankets, we use it to avoid people and a way of communication with other and doing other stuffs like having personal info on there.
5 positive impacts of technology
faster way of communication
helps us in difficult situations
a way to relax ( having music)
a security blanket ( avoiding issue)
a way to keep track of what is going on in our lives
5 negative impacts of technology
We are too dependent on it
lack of courtesy (we forget what is right anymore)
We use it as a way to lie easily
We use it to boost our Ego
We use it as an invisible shield (be rude to others on the web without them knowing who you are)
Sam Chen
Why Some Folks Can’t Live Without Gadgets? I think this is a very good question. In the 21st century, smart-phone is a very big market in the world. According to a reach, the sale of smart-phone is 2155 million U.S. dollar all over the world in 2010. Today, most people have a smart-phone or even more than one. One for business call and the other for privet call. (Smart-phone is a high-end mobile phone that combines the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA) and a mobile phone) .Moreover, the population of smart phone usage is increasing during the time is going. The most advantage of this new technology is convenient to access information. It also brings some disadvantage to people. Smart-phone is a multi-task tool, it mean people can listen music, play game, text, making phone call and browsing internet by this device. The most important thing is this device is small, which mean people can easily to bring it to everywhere or use it without other people’s notice. Hence, a lot of people use their smart-phone during class or work. This phenomenon can be a distraction for learning and working. However, if people use it in right way it can really help people a lot.
Alejandro Valderrabano
Gadgets although very useful, being able to execute games, use e-mail, text messaging, calls, agendas etc. They have also made people very dependent on them, therefore whenever the gadget is for some reason not working or out of reach, the owner might feel at loss even loss of confidence. This is provoked due the large amount of people that have these gadgets and seem to be on them all the time, there is an unconscious need to belong to that majority.
Alejandro Valderrabano
Five positive impacts:
1-Faster communication
2-Business logistics improved
3-Peace of mind to be in connection with loved ones.
4-Distance is virtually non existent.
5-Increased productivity.
5 cons:
1-More distractions
2-Shorter spans of attention.
3-High dependency
4-Potential health hazard (eg. cancer although inconclusive)
5-Costly at times
Breanne Marton
We can’t live without our gadgets because they have become a security feature for us. By having our identities in our technologies we have become incapable of living without them. They help us to connect with other individuals and allow us to distinguish ourselves by the way that we use our technology. They help us to plan out our days, to meet new people, to make plans with individuals. They have become so intertwined with our everyday lives that we now feel that part of our life is missing when we don’t have access to our gadgets because they contain so much of us in them. They are our way of communicating with the rest of the world now and making sure that we keep track of our day as well. People can no longer function by not having these devices to connect with others. We cannot figure out anymore how to get into contact with those people that we need to if our gadgets aren’t present. They represent us to the world that we are communicating with by the amount of time it takes us to respond to things and by how we respond. Gadgets have become our identity.
Austen Murray
As the world progresses into the future, so does technology and the amount of reliance we have upon it. We have learned to consume technology more and more because of all the benefits it provides for us. It gives us greater efficiency with day to day tasks, provides us with easy to reach information at the palm of our hands and more importantly keeps us all so easily connected. The recent blackberry service outage highlighted the point that people depend a lot more on gadgets today than they did 10 years ago. Gadgets can now hold more memory, allowing us to take things off our mind and allow the gadget to do the thinking with its highly accessible secondary memory. People that are trying to run a business are especially faced with this fact, all their clients/contacts are all paced on this gadget and are needed to run a business in order to succeed in the most efficient manner. In conclusion, we are in a technology revolution age and as these so called “Gadgets,” are able to make our life easier people will buy them and put more and more dependency on them as time goes. Humans are all about making their lives easier, why not rely on something that is able to do that for us?
Kelsey K
Why can’t we live without a gadgets?— It almost seems as though the little devices, gadgets, and technologies have a wrapped right around them, just as if we were “wrapped right around their fingers”—if they had them. We have become so incredibly reliant on our gadgets, for different reasons depending on the device. The technological advances in our society have created a convenient driven society of which we rely on technology—such as gadgets— to make our lives as simple and as easy as possible. Because of these gadgets, we are able to connect with anyone, anywhere at any time. We are able to work from anywhere at any time. As well, they allow us to, listen to music or even do banking on the go. Because we have developed a reliance on this easy way of living, and even communicating, it makes it almost strange to live without something that can do this for us. Actually, it’s almost a bit scary to think about how much we really do rely on technology to “run” our lives.
Nicole Acheson
5 Pros
– Always connected
– Easy access to information ie GPS
– Increases productivity
– Always advancing
– Easily accessible
5 cons
– Face to face interaction has decreased dramatically
– People have become very dependent with technology
– People have started to rely on it too much resulting in errors i.e spell check
– Always connected and be doing so miss out on things in the “real world”
– Advances too fast ie Your computer you bought is outdated as soon as you receive it.
brett pudwell
There is no doubt in my mind that this video brings up numerous true points. The last thing I look at before I go to bed is my phone. The first thing I look at in the morning is my phone. All my contacts are in my phone and short of a couple numbers, I don’t have any of them memorized. All important dates upcoming, notes, emails, everything that I need to remember is in my phone. Now with the mobile internet becoming so effective, the ability to look something up on the go becomes so easy that I never need to wonder about anything anymore, I can look it up instantly. The development of the smart phone over the last few years has turned it into the single most important piece of technology in almost everyone’s life. Besides my phone I have a laptop which I am on for numerous hours everyday, two tv’s numerous gaming consoles, and a number of other electronic devices involved in my day to day life. With all this at my disposal, there is never a moment in my life where I am “bored”. For all of this I am very grateful but still make it a point to spend some time everyday reading a book or going outside and playing some sort of sport. All of this technology makes it very easy to loose track of the real world and it is only through actual attention that I maintain my connection to the it.
Wale Obateru
Technological advancement is gradually getting to that stage where gadgets and devices would be seen as a friend or person next to you rather than just a machine. Our gadgets have become a part of us, they are like our shadows that follow us wherever we go that cannot be left behind. This gadgets facilitates our everyday activities ranging from schedule reminders, navigation finders, e-mail messaging, and a whole lot of social networking activities (facebook, twitter, myspace) just to mention a few. The convenience and ease of use is also an important factor that makes a lot of people attached to these gadgets. The fact that you can send an e-mail right from the comfort of your bed, chat with friends on the go, or even tell friends what you are doing at the moment has made these gadgets virtually impossible to live without. With the present level of technological advancement around the world, life would be much more stressful and complex, productivity will be low, and average living standard would be low without the availabilty of these gadgets. A point also worth noting is also the ease of mobile banking brought about by technology. people do not necessarily have to physically go to the banks before they can check their account balances, make transfer payments, or even fill out online checks. Considering the busy nature of the working population as well as students all around the world, these gadgets are life- saving devices that aids multi-tasking and made life more comfortable. In summary, life without our gadgets seem almost impossible.
Yanmei Sun
In my opinion, people can live without the gadgets, however, gadgets make people’s life more colorful and more convenient.They just like the internet,I know there are some people in some place around the world haven’t used internet yet,but if there is a chance for them to contact the network, I believe it will let them fondle admiringly.
Five positive impacts:
1-Communicate faster and more conveniently
2-Avoid issues (adults security blanket)
3-Help people gently refused to others
4-A way to relax (play games, listen to music)
5-Shorten the distance from family members.
Five negative impacts:
1-People become too dependent on the technology
2-Mobile phones can produce radiation to affect human body’s health
3-Influence work.If there was a phone call during a meeting, it would interrupt others.
4-People can lie easier by a phone.
5-people spend too much time on it.
Brett Z
People in todays world are unable to “live” without their gadgets because of the benefits they provide to society. By that I mean the way technology has created several gadgets to make life simpler, faster, and more efficient.
5 Pros:
-Faster Communication (texting vs writing a letter)
-Easier source of information (Weather, news)
-Increased productivity of life (checking E-mails on the go rather than sitting at a computer)
-Reduced usage of trees
-Increased multitasking (Blackberry can hold music, pictures, e-mails, internet, apps)
5 Cons:
-Distracted Driving
-Less real person communication
-Humans rarely recycle electronics
-Life is more difficult when technology fails
-Privacy
amanda K
Gadgets have become a part of our everyday life. There are endless things you can do with gadgets anything from talking, texting, to email and surf the web. Gadgets are a fast and easy way for people to communicate. It is an easy and cheap way to stay connected with friends around the world. If people don’t have their gadgets on them they feel lost, like they’re missing something.
5 positive things:
Keep people connected
Able to work from home
A way to keep track of what’s going on in our lives.
Fast way to communicate.
Security blanket
5 Negative things:
Easier for people to lie
People are losing communication skills. They don’t know how to interact when face to face with someone.
Becoming too dependent on it.
Sometimes people abuse it.
Mark
I never use to have a smart phone or any other type of personl use gadget. the only thing I had up to a year ago was a laptop. All my social networking and what not was done using a computer only. Now that I have my smartphone I will never go back. The ease of ontaining information, keeping in contact with others, and being able to do things such as banking with great speed is soooo convendient. People use to get mad at me cause I would never notice a facebook message or something like that until the next day. Now that I have an iphone I see all my alerts pretty much instantly.
Pros
– fast communication
– fast/convenient source of info
– alerts – anything you want to be updated on can be sent to your handheld instantly (world series plays – base hits, etc.)
– applications make things much simpler (my banking is faster on my phone than my computer – due to touch functions)
– Keeps us more invovled with a broader scope of friends.
cons
– attention span of individuals is declining (always have to be looking at their phone)
– some technology is used for harm (spying, viruses, identity theft…)
– language and grammer skills are dwindling in society – or, at least, changing.
– communications skills are affected (i know people who end relationships via text)
– Old forms of research skills and many other conventional skills are dwindling
B Schnell3
I am glad I saw this today. Last night as I was trying to sleep my roommate came bursting into my room because after installing the latest OS software for his iphone ALL his contacts were GONE! OMG what would we do without our CONTACTS! maintenance. I fully understand the attachment to our devices for reasons of networking, communication, and safety. I think many of us students can relate to those hungover mornings when we wake up with no vehicle (b/c we DONT drink and drive) and NO PHONE. The last time this happened to me I felt as though my bedroom was a long lost distant planet – how would I ever reach the out side world… or my truck?!?
PS I just got same-day, apartment maintenance service – all because the handy-man receives email on his mobile phone. YES.
Pulkit Arora
People cannot live without their gadgets because of how much they rely on them on a daily basis. Their gadgets are not just phones anymore, they are a way to communicate with people without talking to them or a mini laptop of sorts for checking and replying to emails and have access to the internet wherever we go.
5 Advantages: Easily accessible, Increased productivity, Better time management, A portable GPS system, and lightweight and sleek
5 Disadvantages: People are becoming more and more dependent on their phones, Way easier to lie, Phones could harm the human body with the radiation it generates, Distracted driving, and It is usually costly
Laurelle Brown
It is unreal the amout of dependence that exists on technological gadgets. We have turned into a society that can not go and hour without checking our email, our updating out facebook status. When we became able to do all of thesse things without sitting in front of a computer, we obviously all got on the band wagon. We saw no downsides to this; but in my perspective there are many disadvantages of having the internet at our fingertips.
When I narrowed this down to 5 disadvantages, I thought of the following as being the most negative: our lack of interest in actual “human” interaction; the dependence of living vicariously through a social network; the developing generations that do not know what it is like to live without constant communication; distractions of everyday life activities (school, work, driving ect.); and finally, the amount of money that is pouted into this market. Because of the 200 word limit, I wont have room to go into detail.
Despite all of these negatives however, there are some positives that come from the effects of having a mobile communication device. Some of these benifits would include: the advantages to education; the ability to stay connected if ever faced with an emergency; the advances in the workplace; creating a new sense of convienence; the contribution to the advancement of globalization.
Jenny T
I think we can live without our gadgets. There are days where my phone won’t stop going off. Whether its emails, text messages, phone calls, or notifications on facebook that it drives me crazy. I grew up in a time where we were just making the transformation from relying human interaction to relying on gadgets doing our job for us and its easy to say that I miss the days where if you wanted to talk to someone you had to call them and actually talk to them or meet up face to face in order to have a meeting. Also the tools that are used such as the GPS, maps, and bbm I think has gotten way out of hand. There is nothing wrong with asking someone for directions or getting out the old fashion map that is impossible to fold back up once its been opened. There are some days where I do turn my phone off and the only way to get a hold of me is to take the time to stop by my house if its important. I must admit it is more convenient on the changes of technology, but in some ways is not healthy for society. My sisters for example grew up on smart phone never having to have one with a blue and black screen or different shades of black flip phone, so they don’t understand life without a smart phone, but when my sister was forced off of hers because where we were for a few weeks didn’t have reception she became more interactive, more productive/creative with her time, and her attention span to a actual conversation increased significantly. So I think we can definitely live without our gadgets and begin to use our brains again…we just choose not to.
Adam LongBoard
We cannot live without tech. gadgets because we have created a society that evolves around it. It has come to a point that if we we’re to start taking these comforts out of our lives, we would cause the stability of our society to crash.
5 pos.
-feelings of belonging
-makes tasks easier (per say)
-connects the world where it was impossible before.
-source of info
-speeds task up
5 neg
-creates a lazy world
-de-personalizes people
-creates new addictions
-waste build-up of old products
– frequently out dated
Moire Hogg
We rely on our gadgets to the point that they are apart of who we are; they are an extension of our personality in the way we use them. Five positive impacts of technology: easy to connect to other humans, quickly respond, information access in our hands, security for emergencies, navigation tool. Five negative impacts of technology: attention span lower, depend on technology so much that when it doesn’t work we don’t know what to do, we become lazy, it is easier to lie or be rude to others, it is an adult security blanket, use it to avoid people.
Jenaya
I found just what I was needed, and it was entiertaning!
Maria Rana
I think we cannot live without our gadgets as they have become a habit for most of us now and have a huge impact on how we communicate with others and go on with our daily lives. For example, cell phones nowadays do not only allow us to talk to other but also have resources like alarms, calendars, internet, music, GPS, games, and/or even books. These gadgets help us in our fast paced life. They help us get organized and also entertain us at the same time. Technology is also following the trend of miniaturization which is making these gadgets convenient and allow us to take them everywhere with us. However, I do believe that they can be huge distractions sometimes if you are working, studying, or in class. For example, I can speak for myself; I am not very good at multitasking. Therefore, I like to have my cell phone on silent or shut down in class as it is difficult for me to focus and listen to the professor while at the same time text or use my cell phone for something else. It can also be distracting for the professors teaching as it must be irritating while you are speaking and hear a cell phone ring or see someone on their cell phone text messaging.
Salma H.
It is no surprise that today’s generation depends greatly on their gadgets. Whether it be their smart phones, personal computers, or mp3 players, what once was seen as a luxury has become an everyday necessity. It has also gotten to the point where it is considered to be relatively unusual if someone does not have one of these gadgets! Face to face interactions are becoming more and more less popular, and not a very preferred method of communication. With these gadgets, one must not get ready or leave their comfortable spot to talk to someone. It has made life more convenient and easy to get around and communicate with others. These can be considered as the pros of the heavy use of such gadgets, however there are also many cons as well. For instance, we lose touch with reality when we become only concerned with the virtual life we have created. Social interactions become less important, while social media becomes a priority. As the video suggested, We have created a persona with our gadgets that makes us feel incomplete when they are not with us 24/7. I do not believe this will change. In fact, with no doubt in my mind, this will only get worse and our heavy dependence will become more severe. One can only anticipate technology and the use of gadgets to change their social life and environment they once knew.
Ali Almasoud
I think efficiency is main factor behind using technology in our daily life. Why should we bother doing a task that a computer does in much more efficient manner. People are busier than ever, they do not want to spend too much time performing a task due to the time factor. Moreover, Reliability plays an essential role for using technology. Unlike computers and other technological devices, we are human and we are more likely to make a lot of mistakes that a computer won’t make. Computers provides outputs that are reliable,consistent, and accurate which is least likely to occur in human’s hand. Social media also help to be in touch with friends online which is better sometimes than getting together as distance,time,and work can be barriers for us to be together. However, it is absolutely risky when it gets too extreme. Some people spend a ton of time viewing other’s profiles which is a waste of time. It also isolates people from being active in the society.Moreover,Privacy is a major negative effect of using social media. I see some friends in Facebook posting everything they know about themselves! They check in where they are, post family photos, and may also bullying each others in public.For those who check in where ever they are, this will increase the likelihoods for not being well secured due to the fact that everybody who is added as a friend(not necessarily a real friend) knows where they are and undesirable actions can be taken against those who tell where they are.
Mattie E
I think it is fairly safe to say that I am one of those people that can’t live without my gadgets. Technology has become such an integral part of my everyday life that not a day goes by that I don’t use it in some way. My iPhone has permanently become a part of my hand, and my sister doesn’t go on a trip without her iPad stashed in her carry on. We have become so reliant on our gadgets that we don’t know how to effectively function when we don’t have them. For example, back in fall 2011, BlackBerry users experience a technological “crisis” when the network went down, rendering the devices baisically useless. The story was all over the news: business executives couldn’t e-mail their clients, teens couldn’t bbm their bffs, and students couldn’t access their class websites on their BlackBerry’s. Everything people need to get through the day has been put into a smartphone, iPod, iPad, etc. This technology is mostly seen as positive. With our gadgets we can Skype with people around the world, play games on a long flight, go shopping even when the malls are closed, use our smartphone to figure out what that song is we can’t get out of our head, and upload a picture of our new haircut to see what our friends think, just to name a few things. However, with all of these advantages, there are some negatives to all this technology. Identity theft has become a huge problem, potential employers now look at your social media profile before hiring you, many people have become addicted to their gadgets, new technology is incredibly expensive, and all of these “smart” gadgets require us to think less and rely on technology more. I think it will be interesting to see the effects of these gadgets in the next few years.
Amb O
I feel like the reason society and the people living in this world can’t live without gadgets is simply because they do everything for us. They plan our day, suri (iphone 4s personal assistant) for instance can be talked to and she searches for things on the web or wherever you want her to search and she does her best to find it. The world is simply changing and you either get on board with it or you get left behind. Cell phones, personal PDA’s, electronic devices are a form of entertainment for individuals and they definitely go a long way. Non cell phone users may not see the benefit of it but it helps with everything you can possibly imagine. News travels faster, contacting whomever you need to contact happens instantly, if you’re in a crisis you can also make one quick call and get help! It is definitely an amazing thing and I feel that society should embrace this change as it is a benefit not an addiction. Yes some people may be cell phone addicts but others may not. Just like i said earlier, with everything, do it in moderation.
Chance Engel
If we didnt have the technologies that exist today we would all be doing just fine. We would be living our lives and making due with what we have just as we do today and we wouldnt know the difference. The thing is, once these technologies were introduced to us and we begin using them in our everyday lives, we become dependent on them and couldnt imagine how inconvenient life would be without these helpful gadgets.
5 positive impacts of technology in our lives:
1- Access to anything and everything
2- Quick and easy communication with others
3- Has applications to make us more productive
4- Allows people to multitask
5- Entertainment
5 negative impacts of technology in our lives:
1- Constantly needs to be updated
2- Often difficult to setup/use/troubleshoot when problems arise
3- Can be expensive
4- Can distract us from more important things
5- Not able to get away from it (even on vacations)
Veronica
Positives – globalization, fast communication, from an economic standpoint it’s helped the job market (IT professionals, sales people, app designers, etc), can improve personal and professional communication – can take business emails if you’re at home don’t have to be at a computer and if you have friends or family that live away from you, you have a simple way of staying in contact; and though there are many more positives it’s a way of staying connected and informed to what’s happening everywhere.
When I went through some of the negatives personally one I can’t stand is how a lot of people since tweeting and texting have been so prevalent have forgotten the English language. A lot of people are #happy instead of just being happy and I love how some of my friends sent in papers to professors with spelling and grammar errors like “sumetimes u find out l8er that gewd english is kewl;” have we been dumbed down with Instant Messaging and texting that we have lost our education in basic spelling and grammar. I also don’t like having important conversations over text or email and a lot of times email is expected in a professional capacity. I’m sure people (including myself) have written something and had a surprisingly offended response or upset that person because of the tone the receiver interpreted the meaning of your message as. Additional negatives include dependancy (perhaps over-dependancy)and privacy issues.
I think that most people have made such financial and time consuming investments in their “gadgets” and the importance society has placed on technology that makes it so consuming. There are plenty of postives and negatives of technology. But technology is only here to stay and to continue growing and I personally think as a user, it is our responsibility to choose what our level of committment is to our gadgets or technology as a whole. I know my Mom’s job requires her to have a Blackberry where she can be reached, and get business e-mails and her entire job revolves around technology through intranets, e-mailing (worldwide), financial databases, etc. She has to have a certain level of technology in her life because it is required of her by her job.
Rod white quills
why is it so hard to live without our phones is exactly what they were saying in the television article about security we feel the need to always be in control of whatever situation we are in that we feel our gadjets give us this feeling. the need for security is tricky because we also use it for confidence in difficult situation that we may encounter like at a local party and we feel like we don’t belong and call somebody or look busy when nodody is talking to you because you are on your phone or playing with some sort of gadjet. but we also like to feel the control and security thatit provides us with i know i always want to know where my family is so i feel relived when my wife answers her phone where ever she may be and giving phones to my older child for security purposes gives me the comfort i need to know where he is and what he is doing. so it is very hard to be without our gadjets for reasons like security for ourselves and for our loved ones. they also allow us to pass the time at appointment with doctors or other places where we ha ve to wait. it is also very useful when we travel because young children are no longer saying are we there yet because they are busy with there own gadjets like dvd players so wecan relax when we drive instead of stressing over the numerous times we are told are we there yet so thank you gadjets from me.
Le Liu
I do not think it is a gadget at all since those little devices make huge changes in our lives on so many aspects. First, its basic function makes us keep in touch with the world around us. We use it to make phone calls, text friends and so on. It could also make it possible to get access to internet when and wherever we want. Thus people are easier to get latest information like weather forecast, bond price, ect. Second, it has many useful applications. We can download applications to help us study. There are many free applications available for people to learn language, music, cook and design. We also use our phone to do entertainments. For example, play video games. It just brings so much convenience to us. It even includes GPS which could show where you are and help you find your ways. Thirdly, some of the smart phone creates us a moving office. We can keep working even though we are out of office and do not have our lab top with us. We could also write down our schedules down to our phone and do notes taking to keep track in everything. It makes our working environment more flexible.
Sophie
People view their phones and gadgets as an extension of themselves. People are dependent on gadgets now because they are a crucial part of our social and work lives. Smartphones have allowed us to have faster communication, be more productive, combine many technologies into one, and feel constantly connected to our friends and family. However, these new technologies have also made people need immediate gratification, become less socially in-tune, more likely to be a workaholic, threatened our privacy and have allowed us to use less face to face conversation. I think being aware that we are dependent on gadgets can help us work on these negative aspects. People need to make the conscientious effort to be more social in ‘real life’ and have those face to face conversations. As long as we remind ourselves that it is rude to be sitting there and texting when out for dinner, or to cancel last minute because it only takes a text message, then we can work on reducing the negatives of being dependent on gadgets.
Brani
People, technologies, and institutions all have power to influence the development and subsequent use of technology. This in part why people can’t live with out their “gadgets”. The fact that we no longer engage in either utopian or dystopian discourses about the landline telephone or, for that matter the alphabet is evidence of how successfully earlier technologies have been domesticated. What once seemed marvelous and strange, capable of creating greatness and horror, is now so ordinary as to be invisible. Life without them can become unimaginable!
5 Postive impacts can include:
-Keeping in touch with family across the seas
-Being notified of an emergency
-Knowing who scored during Church service
-Being up to date with current events
-Allowing those to multitask to benefit themselves and others
5 Negative impacts can include:
-Losing friendships over miscommunication
-Communication skills declining
-Attention spans declining
-Grammatical skills along side language skills are depleting
-Turning a face to face interaction into face to scree interaction; personability in social cohesion is dwindling.
Marli Hadden
I think that the woman in the video stated in perfectly in that smartphones and other gadgets have become part of one’s identity. The reason why we can’t stop using our gadgts is because we have our online self-image to uphold for ourselves anf for others. Gadgets have become an “adult security blanket” because we use them not only to communicate but also for many other functions in our daily lives. Five positive impacts of technology include: provides various means of communication, provides useful tools to aid in everyday life (GPS, ect), allows access to info anywhere at anytime, is useful for entertainment (music, TV, movies, internet), and provides a sense of belonging to gadget users and all of the capibilities of their smartphone. Five negative impacts of technology include: lowered attention span, ease of lying of being mean over text or social media, lessened personal contact for communicating, no need to remember anything, and over-reliance and dependency on gadgets.
Xuan Wang
Our technology has been improved so quickly and the smart phones are better and better. It is so convenient to use the gadgets on the smart phones. The cell phone is pretty small and we can carry it to anywhere and use it at anytime. When we meet some interesting things or people or pictures we will feel so exciting and we probably want to share them with them with our friends. Then, we need facebook. When we got lost and do not to where to go. The maps on the smart phone make it so easy to find the right way. The most important thing is it doesn’t only convenient and so easy to handle. Of course, when we feel boring about our study and want to look for some fine and relax, playing small games on the smart phone is a good way. You can choose what kind of games and it all depends on you. Besides these, you also can know what the weather likes at anytime through your smart phone or surf on the Internet to find anything you would like to know right now soon. Even though you do not know where to eat or where to shopping, the gadgets on smart phone also can help you.
Misbah Dar
5 positive impacts of technology on our lives and list five negative impacts technology has had on our lives:
Positive
1. Saves more time (convenient), can get lots of things done while sitting down.
2. Communicating effectively among family and friends, acquaintances and colleagues can also become friends easily.
3. Exercise of the mind, learning new things everyday about technology.
4. Multitasking, being able to do lots of things at once.
5. Increasing knowledge, getting to know new things every day.
Negative
1. Lack of communication, there is nothing to talk about when meeting a friend or family face to face, having an awkward moment as if we have talked about everything already, and there is nothing else to say to each other.
2. No emotional sympathy when meeting face to face, you want to avoid a person as much as possible to avoid meeting them in person and not have to start a conversation about how they are doing.
3. Making people lazy, people are more relied on technology than ever before. If the technology crashes or breaks or no service then how would you handle a situation.
4. Chronic pain and weak vision, lots of health hazards with the technology.
5. Trying to keep up to date with all the new gadgets makes you feel left out.
Megan H
After spending over five years working in retail cellular communication, I have seen the positive and negative impact of gadgets on people. Some say that technological boom has made our lives easier and some would say even giving you more time in a day to do things. All that time spend selling cell phones and smartphones has shown me that our gadgets tend to cause us more stress and anxiety. I spent more time in my five years working for Telus, fending off personal attacks and grown adults throwing temper tantrums like 2 year olds in the middle of the store. We even had physical threats of violence and actual physical confrontations. People seem to get so worked up when their cell phone isn’t working properly or as in quite a few situations they are just so impatient they just don’t even want to take the time to learn the new technology. This seems to cause a total break with reality and people act completely insane and out of control. It may be a good idea for people to learn to relax and put down their devices every once in a while, pay attention to your surroundings and stop and smell the roses.
Andrew D
We CAN live without our devices, but we dont like to because they offer us so much convenience. We can email, text and find our news and friends all on our device at any time and ayn place. 5 Positve impacts would be- saving time( being able to check email anywhere and do work from anywhere means that travelling or being sick at home dont impede our work), saving money (not having to go somewhere to see people or do a business meeting etc), convenience of information, always being able to stay in touch and connected to other people we care about and being able to interact with the world and other people who share our interests through the use of social media. The 5 negatives would be – now that we can work anywhere, we work everywhere; it is very hard to get away from our work; we end up being more connected to the people in our phone than the people actually near us in reality; we are becoming less skilled at face to face social situations because we do less of it; we become dependent on always having it, so when its out of battery or whatever, we dont have access instantly to all the information we may need.
Reply
I agree that people are addicted to our gadgets these days. Now that facebook, twitter, text messaging are common ways of communicating right now, in order to socialize, people get used to these gadgets, and get addicted to it.
We still CAN live without out gadgets but I would feel like I am dissocializing. When I deactivated my facebook for a while, I felt like I am the one who is not updated with my friends, and felt like I was not socializing.
Great impacts of technology on our lives is that we can communicate at no cost globally nowadays. I talk to my parents overseas at no cost at all video chat. Also, everything is instant. Does not matter of time, space, nothing. If you want to get a hold of someone, its instant, also getting information and answers are instant too. You can get a dinner recipe on the way home with your smart phone, and bus hours info in instant too. In the other hand, people get used to interact with machines, not with humans. Face to face communication is becoming more less and less.