How the Technological Revolution is Changing our Lives Today

Tech advancements affect almost every area of our lives today.

By Oxana Tsirelman, Online Editor

The technological revolution has infiltrated virtually every realm of the world in just a few short years. Computers for instance became free; free bits, free communications, free content. But it doesn’t stop there. The possibilities are endless. The question is, “How will this technology be used?”

Technology will always penetrate every realm of people’s lives, work, interactions and the ways in which they are entertained. In fact, some of the ways that technology infiltrates our lives is through “greater organization and simplification of the massive amounts of information; greater connection of consumers through social media; use of technology by large companies to create competitive advantage; and the launch (again) of Internet TV.”

But those are just a few overwhelming developments; there are more goodies to come! This year, a trillion free searches will be conducted, 200 billion minutes of free internet phone calls will be made by Skype and billions of video streams will cloud us!

As much as this technological revolution presently affects us, they pale in comparison to what the future has in store for us.

“About 1.5 billion people have Internet access, about 5 billion people don’t. There are 300 million people with broadband, but this represents only 20% of those with Internet access. Thus, only a small fraction of the world’s population is taking advantage of technology’s capabilities. Much growth potential remains” indicates Harvard Business School.

Let me give you another concrete example of how our rapidly growing technology is leaking into our lives and psyche: the iPad.

“For starters, it’s my morning and mid day news reader. It’s where I get my news, weather and market updates. Throughout the day, I get my emails through either my phone, iPad or PC – whichever is most convenient at the moment. Occasionally, I peruse through Word or PDF documents on the iPad. I find it better than going through the file on a PC sometimes. I’m not sure what it is… but I think it has something to do with the touch features for navigation, zoom, and page flips — which I don’t have on the PC (no the touch pad on my Macbook Pro still doesn’t quite cut it)” says addicted user Kahuna.

What is it about technology that penetrates us to the point where we’ll always have its remnants in us? I’ll tell you: the limitless avenues of communication, the freedom from marginalization, the option of having faceless identities. Ladies and gentlemen, I can go on for hours listing.

But, with this kind of freedom comes responsibility. That’s why you can’t go in this being ignorant. Ignorance is a disease, it must be destroyed! The only way to annihilate ignorance is by employing knowledge and information. Without those two things, the consequences will be deadly. This is not only in relation to the fast emerging technologies, but it is a general rule of thumb. Apathy and ignorance destroys us all, and like it or not, we have to face the truth, no matter how much it hurts.

It’s better to feel the pain now than to be sorry later, trust me, I know. We have to be aware of everything that’s going on in this world, especially if it has to do with technology. After all, we are citizens of planet Earth, and therefore it’s our responsibility to be aware of everything that’s happening, no matter how bad. So let’s face it now, together.

Sources:

Harvard Business Review
Image Courtesy of Per-Olof Forsberg, via Flickr.