Since technology is such a major entity in society, I feel that having a conversation about its effects will be an ongoing conversation. Technology is constantly changing right before our eyes and it’s up to us, the recipients of these changes, to either accept them or voice our dissent on them.
Me personally, I have mixed feelings about the effects of technology because everything has its pros and its cons. 20 or 30 years ago, you might’ve walked into a room and seen cell phones that looked like land lines without cords and they had antennas sticking up. Now, you see phones that can be used as mini computers and they can be unlocked using a fingerprint.
This an example of a technological advancement. Another example is the shift from only stationary computers to the option of stationary computers or laptops. Ultimately, it all boils down to what’s convenient, what will sell, and what’s within our range of resources, although we are discovering new uses of various resources every day. However, one question remains: is this progression into a Utopian society or regression into a dysfunctional, disconnected society that’s getting further and further away from emotion?
The latest in technology news reveals that the iPhone 7 might be sans headphone jack. Someone must have thought it was a “hassle” to deal with headphone cords, which is why they came up with this idea. In my opinion, this is actually pretty ridiculous for several reasons. First of all, the cord on the headphones alleviates the stress of losing headphones because they can stay connected to the phone. Then, in the image above, the headphones are pictured very small, which makes them easier to lose.
So, if this is Apple’s next technological advancement, I say they should rethink it. What someone might’ve thought would be convenient could actually create an even bigger problem. One con of technology is that it attempts to solve society’s problems yet creates even more. A prime example is the way cell phones gave us the ability to talk to someone across the world yet those “crack berries” (in the words of a former art professor) inhibit us from connecting to someone across the room.
Social media developed a new way to consume media yet became a playground for prejudiced, misogynistic, and/or homophobic people to express their troubling beliefs and mislabel it “free speech.” To every advancement, there is a down side. Perhaps such is the thread of life, though. Technology has its cons, yet it’s undeniable that it has had a lasting effect on the way that we are able to communicate, which is not a minor thing. We’ll just have to work on the way technology is manipulated and then maybe, just maybe, we’ll be one step closer toward this futuristic, Utopian society we strive to become.
