How has technology changed our lifestyle?
The technology
The means we use to communicate today are very different from those used by previous generations. The way we learn is also very different, because we have a few clicks away a universe of information that is usually mixed between lies and truths, and we must know where to look. Entertainment is another aspect that has undergone drastic changes over time; 3D cinema today is not the same as the films projected in the 50s. Is any one better than another? This will depend on the perception of each person and the values of it. Below we will see examples of how the technology we have today makes us see the world differently.
Internet
The internet represents a huge source of knowledge, changed the way of learning and finding the available information, the way of studying and doing research. But the most important feature of the Internet is that it is the largest communication medium today, thanks to the development of tools such as Messenger, social networks or email, people are always communicating with other people, and now it is possible to express themselves without limitations. All this experience becomes much more real with the development of tools such as YouTube where people can get to know things they have never seen before, all thanks to the videos that other people share.
Cell phone
The cell phone has become a necessary tool for people, there are currently millions of mobile phones in our country. Thanks to the mobile phone people can be communicated, however the experience is different from what you have with a smartphone since its scope of the latter is much larger thanks to the internet connection. Nowadays life is easier because it is much easier to contact people, this device is useful to be used in emergencies, school work has become easier, besides it helps us save time, however, privacy which people enjoyed a few years ago has been lost.
Email
Email has now become one of the main communication tools among people.
The use of emails within companies has now exceeded the use of the telephone, however, not only in companies has become the most practical way of communication, as also among students at universities and universities. in general, all people who wish to do so because it has no cost.
It is important to mention that in the workplace the users of internal networks (INTRANET) have a permanent connection through internal emails.
How have the New Technologies impacted us?
Life flows day by day, sometimes without noticing everything that comes with it. For some, to greet and kiss us good morning is the food of our soul to continue; For others, having a good job, good economic position and a family is enough and for others, it is knowing that we can be close to ours with the simple click of a computer mouse. For each and every one of us, the priorities are established and that is an aspect that we can not judge. However, we can not deny that the influence of technology has invariably changed our perception of life.
This paper seeks to sensitize the reader to the advantages and disadvantages that are presented to us when adopting the use of new technologies in our daily and professional life, especially the use of what is called "electronic mail" through a computer.
Technology is part of our lives and in this, there is no doubt. Daily, we use a means of transportation to reach our destination; we use the telephone to make a personal or business call; We send a fax to someone who is in another building, or to another state; we write an "e-mail" to communicate with our co-workers, our friends or our relatives; and thus we can mention a great variety of technologies that coexist with us, sometimes noticing us of their direct influence that exert on our "being", although most of the time goes unnoticed.
Technology is considered as an extension of the innovation of the human being to be able to function better in their environment and before this, Marshall McLuhan (1993: 80) affirmed that "All artifacts of man, language, laws, ideas, the tools, the clothes and the computers are extensions of the human body ... Every artifact is an archetype and the new cultural combination of new and old artifacts is the engine of all invention and also leads to the wide use of the invention, which is called innovation " Innovation that we see represented in all corners of our homes, in school, at work, in our car, because it is through this that man expresses new needs that must be satisfied before a world in constant change.
Advantages and disadvantages are the adjectives that I will use to determine the impact of technology in our lives, where there must be a balance that places man and this in the right place, considering beliefs, abilities, ideologies, attitudes, conflicts, social struggles , as a whole, the culture in which man develops. Many will ask, what culture? Are not we in a process of globalization? That we are not all supposed to belong to a global village? But what is this global village looking for?
Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear the word globalization, because "the rapid progress of transport and communications, and in particular technological advances such as optical cable, microprocessors, telefax or satellite transmission, has reduced considerably the distances "(Pérez de Cuéllar, 1996: p.35). To the reduction of distances between countries, to the immediacy of access to information; to follow cultural patterns; to commercialization between countries; to the ease with which the powerful countries exert their force on those of the third world ... to that ... we have called it globalization, and it is in part, for the creation and adoption of technology as a unifying source. But what do we mean by technology? It can not be reduced to what is "the body of knowledge, tools and techniques, derived from science and practical experience, which is used in the development, design, production and application of products, processes, systems and services" Albetti (1989 : pp. 5 and 6), because we must consider that it is a cultural expression that should be understood as an extension of the human being, of his feelings, thoughts and experiences that will help him adapt better to a world in constant change . Another definition establishes that technology is "a method for an activity that reduces the uncertainty in the relations cause effect that are linked to the achievement of a certain result" (Fernández Collado, 1988, p.294), giving in the concept "uncertainty" "All that is characteristic of man before his everyday surroundings. In this definition, it can be noted that the "uncertainty" comes from a system of ideas, but how to make it compatible with technology? Given this, Negroponte states: "The fax is a Japanese creation, but not only because the Japanese were skilled enough to standardize and manufacture it better than any other producer, as happened with videocassettes, but because culture, language and way of doing business in that town, they are all very oriented towards the image "Negroponte, Nicolás, (1997, p 205). Continuing with his reflection, "... the kanji's pictographic nature makes faxing something natural for the Japanese" (1997, p.208), therefore, technological development is considered to be closely linked to a specific and related sociocultural context to a worldview of the world.