Technology: A Word that defines our generation, our century, our lives!
What is Technology? Well, for me it is something that keeps me connected, be it my family or friends. Something that makes my day-to-day life easier; makes me browse the world on my fingertips; be it music, movies or books, technology is what keeps them at my disposal 24*7*365. But what is technology for the elderly? A Wizard of Oz who does all kinds of sorcery in their minds, a mutant who changes every now and then which makes them incapable of keeping track of its usage. It is like ‘Yoda’ from the star wars, whose language and intentions are never straight forward. Hence the age-old question or shall I say a war.. Technology: A Boon or a Bane?
Why a Boon:
- Remember those times when once you lost a twin brother or a friend in childhood and there was no way on earth to find them except those rare chances when you end up fighting on the road and tear each other’s sleeves down and find those matching tattoos which they had inked in a fair when they were kids? Too clichéd, right? That’s where Social Networking sites make a grand entrance! Randomly thought of your childhood crush and want to know about his/her whereabouts at the middle of the night? Just search him/her on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn or Twitter and voila there s/he is! Keeping track of friends and family was never so easy!
- Keeping in touch is so easy since the technological advancement. Be it the old age landline phones or new age mobile phones, isn’t the whole idea of talking to your loved ones on dialing few digits is exciting? I can’t even imagine the world before telephones or mobile phones now. The idea of an instrument bringing you so up-close and personal with your loved actually gives me goosebumps.
- For me, technology doesn’t stop at social media. If technology has changed the way we look at our and each other’s lives it has also helped us in a HUGE way to SAVE lives. I mean look at the facilities we have today at the hospitals, with science and technology going hand in hand day by day, I don’t think that that day is too far when we would be having answers to all the medical issues we facing today!
A Bane:-
- On one hand where technology has helped us getting in touch with our loved ones, but on the other hand, it has acted as a catalyst to our already fast-paced life. I mean what happened to those birthdays when you were flooded with calls and visits whole day? Now it’s just a WhatsApp in a group of 50, kind of a wholesale wish. Since when we became so busy that we can’t take out few mins to call or visit our loved ones?
- I guess all the true book lovers would agree with me when I say that the charm of holding a book in your hand and turning each page with licking your finger and tasting the dusty texture of paper can never be replaced by an android device of the same weight! Libraries are no more a place to sit, interact and read, no eyes meet over falling books, you don’t find a dry rose from your high school sweetheart between the pages anymore!
- Remember those times when you bonded over games played in your locality? During summer vacations, the whole community would be on the road and used to go bonkers. Be it the scorching heat or the moonlit nights, only one shout-out was needed and everybody was on the roads. The LAN gaming nowadays has killed the entire meaning of bonding over games, now we all are just sitting in our rooms and cursing other players for not playing well! At least, then we didn’t require to go the gym. These games used to be their fitness trainer.
The debate on ‘Is technology a boon or a bane’ is never ending. Just like any other coin, even this has two sides making it unjust to conclude. Well, maybe it’s not technology; maybe it is us. Maybe we are overusing the technology. But may be gradually things will fall in places and we won’t be totally dependent on technology as we are now.
