The Revolution will not be Downloaded (Blog Post #2)

People are afraid of change. Change is what President Barack Obama promised on his 2008 Presidential Campaign. As the potential to become the first African-American president, Barack Obama had to overcome obstacles in his path to win the election. For many people, the idea of having a minority president was great. Yet, many doubted that this welcomed change would be great for America. A few argued that his inexperience would make him unqualified for the position. However, after securing the win for the 2008 general election, President Obama has proved that change can sometimes be scary and unfamiliar but, great in the long run.

            This same argument could be used to address the statement. In the documentary “Future Shock”, the narrator discusses how overwhelming technology has become where humanity will not be able to keep up and handle the pressures. The documentary does make a great point that it is become increasingly harder to keep up with the constant changes in technology. Even today, I find it difficult trying to remember when the new gaming console is coming out or the new update for Microsoft Windows. Nevertheless, I find that the statement and “Future Shock” overly critical on technology.

Many benefits have been made because of technology. Where we have evolved as a society from reading by candlelight to having bright lights in buildings is astonishing. I do not think that I could grasp having to wait to hear back for weeks on end after sending a letter. Technology is always going to move fast but I think that saying we need to have a stronger control is an overstatement.

            In a sense, I find that some control is necessary. For example, I think that a regulation on how long a person spends using technology is important. Consuming our entire life into our PlayStation 3 or on our blogs is not healthy for socializing. An article titled, Study: Multitasking hinders youth social skills, explains how the constant multitasking for young children is effecting their social skills and those who spend more time interacting outside of the computer have better social skills. “Tweens in the study who regularly talked in person with friends and family were less likely to display social problems, according to the findings in the publication Developmental Psychology,” (Milian, CNN).  This quote shows that regulating technology to an extent would be a positive for people especially young children who need to be pushed off of technology and attempt to try to become more active.

            While the quote argues that we should start saying no, some people still do not have the option to oppose any type of technology because they do not have access to the Internet at all.  Many argue that by not having access to Internet or any other type of technological resource people would miss out on many opportunities including jobs and education.

“Millions are still offline completely, while others can afford only connections over their phone lines or via wireless smartphones. They can thus expect even lower-quality health services, career opportunities, education and entertainment options than they already receive,” (Crawford, NYT).

           

Granted, technology is expensive and many people cannot afford the costs. Often we overlook the fact that we even have technology is a privilege for many regions that do not have access. Many are not caught up in the world and before people decide to reject certain types of technology, we should try to put more efforts into getting people up to date and not forget those that exist. I feel that people should become more educated in how to use technology and resources should be improved so other people can get access.

Works Citied:

Crawford, Susan P. “The New Digital Divide.” New York Times. Pub. Dec 3, 2011. Accessed Sep 2, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/opinion/sunday/internet-access-and-the-new-divide.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Milian, Mark. “Study: Multitasking hinders youth social skills.” CNN. Pub. Jan 25, 2012. Acessed. Sep 2, 2012. http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-25/tech/tech_social-media_multitasking-kids_1_social-skills-study-facetime?_s=PM:TECH