Technology – Boon or curse??

No doubt the technology world is improving every day.  We have new inventions on almost daily basis.  The human race is running to invent new things as if there’s no tomorrow.

Is all these technologies are really a boon in our life or is it a curse where in we have lost good personal time?

Till about 1996, cell phones were very rare commodity.  Today, how many are there in the world without a cell phone?   I still distinctly remember – In 1996, I visited the GITEX exhibition (world’s second largest computer/IT exhibition) in Dubai and was carrying my office cell phone.  Our office (with about 100 employees at that time) had only one cell phone and whoever needed it to carry with them for official reason should get approval from management and do so.  Many people in the exhibition hall were very impressed that I had a cell phone (huge Motorola phone with huge antenna).

But today, many people have 3 or 4 cell phones along with other accessories (like iPad, iPod, etc.).  How much have we personally gained from these technological advancements?

Weren’t we happy when we had no cell phones and we did not carry work home?  Once you leave the office, that’s the end of workday.  But in today’s environment, almost every one of us works 24/7.  What you call this?  Advancement or technology eating away our personal time?

There was a time when I worked almost 24/7. Thanks to Blackberry and all other gadgets, which never allowed me to think outside of office issues.  But now, I’ve made a conscious decision of not checking my mails after I walk out of office or when I’m in a party or something.  But still the habit keeps creeping back up when I want to check my office mails.

Trust me, I am not against inventions and not against technology being used in modern day activities.  But, why should we use technology by compromising some of the pleasures of life?

Assume we are playing with our children and they start to tell a story or trying to tell what they did during day, the phone rings?  Why should we stop the child and upset the child to take an official call?  Why not we be like our previous generation, where the work ended at office and they had time to spend with us?

With this technological advancement, now lot of gadgets are much more affordable.  Good thing that we can use and enjoy the technology.  But what has happened in the end?  We buy gaming consoles, cell phones and computers with Internet access to our children also.  How many of current generation children play outdoor sports?  Their idea of weekend is becoming glued to computer screens, playing video games, online games, browsing the net, etc.  Is this healthy development?

I believe that we as parents should ensure proper control so that the children are not spoilt with technology and forget some good things they can enjoy as children (which many of us enjoyed during our childhood days).  Relate this to the blog I posted earlier titled “how much to load on our children”.  Read the comments I’ve received on that blog.  Many of us are guilty of not checking with our children on what they wanted to do. 

Above statement is becoming true due to the fact that we are becoming slaves of technology and have no time for family, fun, etc. like we used to do in the past.  Due to this, we make children feel better by giving them the gadgets… Is it good?

I asked my younger daughter just before her 3^rd birthday about what gift she wants for her birthday.  She said “I need mobile with camera”… Good to know that technology has reached a 3 year old.  But when we were 3 year old, the maximum we would have asked is for “dress, chocolate, sweets, etc.”… Not a mobile phone with camera.

Another problem I see with technology getting better and better is that we do not want to remember many things like we used to do.  I used to remember at least about 50 telephone numbers related to my work, personal, etc.  But today, I can hardly remember about 10 numbers since I can easily dial them by going into “contacts” in my phone.  So, we are getting lazy with the technology getting advanced and we getting addicted to it.

I am not saying everybody is guilty of this.  But many of us are…

How many of us write using the good old technique of paper and pen?  We type SMS, email, etc. and have almost forgotten the art of letter writing.  How many of us write letters anymore?  I am not even sure if post offices in India sell post cards or inland letters anymore.  While writing this, I am thinking if my daughter knows what or how inland letters look like. 

One thing I ensure in my office during my training sessions is that everybody has to write notes.  Also, to test the knowledge of my team, I give them tests and I want them to write answer sheets so that nobody goes out of touch with writing.  Look at the way we write nowadays, thanks to SMS and other short versions: “Can u come b4 7?”, “gr8 to meet u”.  What happened to our writing?  Has technology made us more lazy and lesser competent in the language skills?

This slavery to technology is a vicious cycle.  Very close resemblance to my blog regarding “wants and needs”.  We need to draw a line and stay within the line so that we enjoy best of both worlds.  Nobody can judge how much technology the other person needs to conduct his life.  We should be our own judges.

From today, I am going to seriously look into the technology I am using and see how else I can overcome that by going back into old methods what our ancestors used.  If I succeed in anything, I will share my experience in the blog.

If I do not succeed, after all I am a person living in 21^st century!!! :)

Any thoughts from my friends on this?