Technology has come a long way and continues to grow and change everyday. The lives from when my parents were kids are very different than kids today, in which a central element was technology and its constant improvement. There are many positive and negative aspects that are brought about because of technological advances. For instance when my parents were growing up staying inside the house was not an option because there was nothing to do! As kids they wanted to go outside and go to the park to play basketball or explore the woods to see what they could come across. Today many kids are choosing to stay inside and take advantage of technology by wanting and playing the newest video game systems, such as the Wii, watching HDTV, or playing on the computer downloading songs onto their IPODs. The new technology contributes to the rate of obesity in kids along with not being as physically active. This is a serious problem that the world has to deal with and has tried to fix by setting an amount of time for exercise during the school day. Kids fifty years ago were very social and developed long lasting relationships with their neighbors and family. It seems today people are becoming more isolated and new technologies have had a profound contribution. Many kids today and adults can’t fathom life without the internet or cell phones. So what happened to kids who played kick the can or capture the flag with their neighborhood friends, will these games that have lasted generations be lost soon, forever??
Can technology be purely good or bad? Since the beginnings of the computer and internet there have been many useful features. When one is unsure of what a word means or wants to know what the weather will be like five days from now that information can be quickly accessed through the computer and without much effort. Most people would look at this as remarkable. E-mails can be sent to family members or friends that are across the world in order to stay in touch by the click of a button. Information can be shared from one scientist to another which can aide in finding cures. The internet can also help make life easier and more comfortable for people who are disabled or sick. These people can order almost anything imaginable online that they may need without much effort and with no need to drive to the store.
The internet also brings up a point about less human interaction. Instead of making a phone call to order pizza and going to pick it up, one can get online order pizza and have it delivered with almost no interaction with humans. Another example is internet shopping. One can shop for almost anything from clothes to furniture with little to no human interaction. Will this lead one day to a complete loss with direct human contact??
In conclusion the internet is neither good nor bad, but depends on what you use it for. If you use it to assist in acquiring knowledge this provides positives qualities, but when you become so assumed with the internet and just sit on the computer to play games this may become a negative attribute. There needs to be limits set so one doesn’t become so involved to the point where less human interaction occurs.
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As technology throughout the world keep on improving, we are replying more on these technological advances to help us with are daily routines. I remember 10 years ago, the best way to get the showtimes for a movies before going to the movie theater was calling the moviephone which takes forever the times of even one movie. Today, I can go on yahoo.com and check on the movies showtimes in a matter of a few seconds. In Dreyfus's book, he mentioned that technology is apart of a body. What he means is that everything we do involves technology assisting us. Also we relied on technology so much that if these tools were removed away from us that it might be difficult to survive without them. In other words, it is almost like you were to lose to one of your five senses.
Even though, the internet is an essential tool for us human beings, there are some negative consequences of the internet. One is that internet can isolate you from other people. One example is this new online game that is taking this country by storm is the World of Warcraft aka WOW. From my observations in the Ackerman Residence Halls, the students who WOW are usually the nerds or outsiders who will spend most of the day in their dorms playing this addictive game. Therefore, they really socialize with anybody which leads to inherited poor people skills.
These online dating services such as E.harmony.com screw you over when finding a potential significant other. You may meet a person who claims that they are as looking as Brad Pitt and Beyonce and then you meet them and they turn out to look like Rosie O'Donnell's sister.
But there are some positive consequences of the internet. One is that the internet help people make new friendships and reestablished old ones. I remember when I was down in my hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida from January to August of 2007, I used the world famous website myspace.com to get in touch with friends who I have not see since high school.
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