Techno-crappy

Technology has developed rapidly in the past few years and everyone is joining all the fun and festivities. Everywhere people are hooked up to their newest BlackBerry.People are rushing to the stores buying the new iPhone one after another. Two or three people in the same room stuck to their laptops and computers browsing for something that they themselves haven't figured out is a common sight. Often, people are just absent-mindedly clicking one button after another, shifting through pages of webpage just for the sake of it. We are hooked. This generation has become a generation that's addicted to technology.

The society is lost in the wonderment of a tiny machine that can connect you to anyone anywhere in this big world, a phone that fit the world in your palm, and a technology more advanced than ever that can bring everything to you in a click. All is because a mysterious thing we call the internet. It's understandable that people are excited about all these new technologies. However, many people aren't just excited. They are addicted and many don't even understand what makes those new technologies so addicting. I believe that the internet today gives people more flexibility in their daily activity and now that they have tried the luxury of being able to do everything instantly, they can't stop.

In this era of competition, people are getting busier and busier. Between work with constant increase of competition, the growing challenge of raising a family in this modern era, and hundreds of other personal responsibilities, people don't have the time to rest from the hectic life they live. The internet, with all kinds of entertainments and activities, has somewhat become their safe haven. People find peace on the internet. The internet is a world away from their daily responsibilities. It's a world that doesn't care if they haven't done their laundry or finished their homework. The internet is a way for people to escape from reality. Of course, it's nice to be able to escape from reality and that's why the internet is so addicting.
More than that, however, what makes the internet so addicting is the fact that it gives instant access to those entertainments and activities. Otherwise, people don't really need the internet to provide us with entertainment since they can find entertainment without the internet. In their hectic days, people don't have the time to go places to hang out and have fun. They are too busy doing all kinds of chores that they have to do and when they're not, they're too tired to do anything. The internet gives them the access to those entertainments and activities without them having to get out of their homes or even their beds.

The same case with information. With the internet and the right machine, people can pull any information they need anywhere anytime. The technology gives them access to every information there is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If someone needs to know who's the founder of water bottle at 2 in the morning, the information is right there on their smart phones. When someone got lost in the middle of a deserted road, he can just go to his BlackBerry and activate the GPS to find his way home. It's practical, it's easy, and it's fast, so of course it's addicting.

Even when we want to talk to our friends or family, we want an instant way. Those social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace give people the flexibility to talk to their acquaintances whenever they want wherever they want. People can now steal one minute at work to send a quick "hallo" to their acquaintances. They don't have to go through the long drives to a friend's home to meet up to exchange gossips and catch up. After all, they can just call their friends on those chatting sites or talk to them on phone sites like Skype where they can talk and see each other on the computer or their phone screens. Another advantage of those social networking sites is that people can voice their mind more freely on those sites. They can just post random notes on how they are feeling or their latest problem. Blogging sites where people can write whatever they want give them the opportunity to become activists, poets, reporters, advisors, or even critics in instant. With all those features and convenience, of course the new technology is addicting.

Like other addictions, however, the addiction of technology is also dangerous. It deprives human beings from their natural need as social beings to interact physically with other people and it slowly creates a virtual alternate universe that prevents people from living the reality. Even now, everywhere we can see people too busy with their gadgets that they aren't paying attention to their surroundings anymore. A man ignores his friend who's sitting across him in person because he's too busy talking to another friend halfway across the world. It's a great gift that now we can do so many things that we weren't able to do with so much more efficiency. However, we have to be careful, because no matter how fun and easy the virtual world on us, it's not the real world. We can't abandon our lives for a virtual world that may give us convenience, but not a life. We have to be careful so those new technologies become a tool to advance human civilization rather than to depreciate.

-me

Can't remember what I wrote this for, but there you go.