In the year 2013 alone, roughly one hundred and fifty million Apple iPhones were sold to customers around the world. On the other hand, in the 19th century, Apple iPhones had not once so much as crossed the minds of even the most brilliant innovators. During that time, the creation of farming machines, railroads and factory goods were being introduced, all of which were used in order to better the living and working conditions at the time. The use of cell phones in todays society is a terrifying example of the turn in technology from adjuvant to adverse. In today’s day and age, it is prevailing for a human being to depend on technology in order to perform daily activities, socially interact and it’s even created an almost frightening easiness to gain access into other people’s lives. When technology kicked off during the Industrial Revolution, it was meant to build a more simple life; however, the evolution of today’s technology has instead created a complicated lifestyle, which has depreciated it’s original purpose. Starting from as early as 1760 to roughly 1850, the United States underwent an amazing transformation, better known as the Industrial Revolution. This era in our society’s history changed the way people lived by creating new forms of technology to reduce manual labor and create easier forms of production, transportation and much more. (Yale.edu) That was, in fact, the most prominent turning point, in terms of technology, in the United States. During that time, evolution was occurring in all aspects of human life, creating easier ways to perform almost anything desired. These technological advances were created to simplify the lives of our society; nevertheless, we have misused a great opportunity to grow and rather,... ... middle of paper ... ... 19 July 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. . Stewart, Erin. "Does cell phone use really affect our communication skills?." The Lance. N.p., 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. . Gilbert, Jason. "Smartphone Addiction: Staggering Percentage Of Humans Couldn't Go One Day Without Their Phone." Huff Post TECH. N.p., 16 Aug. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. . Montagna, Joseph A. "The Industrial Revolution." N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. . Zimmer, Carl. The Long, Curious, Extravagant Evolution of Feathers. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 29-34. The Best American Science and Nature Writing. Print.
This story observes human relations with technology and warns us of the potential consequences of allowing technology to supplement our self-sufficiency. Varshavsky shows us that we will become indistinguishable from technology, that this technology will eventually demand equality, and that this technology will steal our self-sufficiency while also becoming self-reliant. There are hints at Varshavsky’s imagined human-technology relations in current day. Society’s requirement of computers to function in the economy as laborers and consumers is one example. Another instance of society’s reliance on technology is the use of cameras and security systems to ensure safety. Another different type of technology humans rely on is pesticide to grow food for consumption. None of these examples point to technology as a negative aspect of society. On the contrary, technology has allowed human societies to expand and flourish. However, the most poignant example of Varshavsky’s envisioned human-technology relationship is human reliance on the cellphone. To name a few benefits, cellphones allow people to remember things they would otherwise forget, share their ideas with each other, and communicate with people they would normally have trouble maintaining a relationship. Cellphones are becoming a vital part of consumer culture and human existence. Without them society will digress back to a slower social, cultural, and economic existence. Human reliance on cellphones could be the first steps toward Ilya Varshavsky’s “Perpetual Motion” becoming
Doctor Jean Twenge is an American psychologist who published an article for The Atlantic titled “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?” in September 2017. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to emphasize the growing burden of smartphones in our current society. She argues that teenagers are completely relying on smartphones in order to have a social life which in return is crippling their generation. Twenge effectively uses rhetorical devices in order to draw attention to the impact of smartphones on a specific generation.
In the essay “Our Cell Phones, Our Selves” written by Christine Rosen, the author presents a brief history on how cell phones were introduced into society and how this artifact changed people’s interactions in the physical space. Rosen describes the first cell phone that appeared in 1983 as “hardly elegant,” big and expensive (458). Cell phones at that time were mainly used by important and affluent people. However, seven years later, cell phones became smaller and affordable provoking a big change in society. This big technological advance did not only affect the United States, but the entire world.
Technology has always been at the forefront of the world’s mind, for as long as anyone can remember. The idea of “advancing” has been a consistent goal among developers. However, recently the invention of smartphones broke out into the world of technology, causing millions of people to become encapsulated in a world of knowledge at their fingertips. Jean Twenge elaborates on the impacts of the smartphone on the younger generation in her article “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?” Twenge’s article is just a sliver of the analysis that she presents in her book “IGen.” Twenge, a professor of psychology at San
Amy Gahran, a media consultant exploring communication in the technology era, writes about how cell phones are significant. She feels that cell phones have changed our lives by providing “…vital services and human connections…offer new hope, even through simple broadcast text messages” (Gahran). Gahran is insisting that cell phones allow us to learn news quickly, connect with safety, and can even fight crime through video recordings (Gahran). In addition, she feels that the overall benefits of owning a cell phone outweigh any negatives. This somewhat challenges the ideas presented by Rosen because it points out more benefits of cell phones. In “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves” Rosen mentions that although cell phones indeed connect us with safety, they can often lead to a sense of paranoia. To expand, she writes that parents who give children a cell phone for security purposes, develop a paranoid sense of their community and lose trust in “social institutions” (Rosen). In making this comment, Rosen argues that although cell phones may be beneficial, they can change the way we view our world. Without a cell phone, many individuals feel vulnerable, as if their phone protects them from all possible dangers that they may encounter. In fact, a Rutgers University professor challenged his students to power off their phones for 48 hours and report back with their experience (Rosen). Many felt almost lost without it and one young women described the feeling “…like I was going to get raped if I didn’t have my cell phone in my hand” (Rosen). In reality, having a cell phone will not save a person’s life in all situations. Although many, including Gahran, feel a phone is a vital tool, it has changed how we feel about the world around us and how vulnerable we feel without a phone in
The famous physicist Albert Einstein once said: “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” In the article “Disruptions: More Connected, Yet More Alone”, Nick Bilton discusses the influence that smartphones have on our lives. His work is based on a video posted to YouTube by Charlotte DeGuzman. This video shows one day of the woman’s life that surrounded by people who are always connected to their phones. The author uses examples from DeGuzman to make us think about how we interact in the age of smartphones. Nowadays, many people believe that smartphone addiction is a problem while others think it is not. Electronic devices make our life very convenient, but also it is destroying human interaction. Smartphone addiction is an issue that deserves attention from every individual.
The Industrial Revolution “transformed the daily lives of Americans as much as—and arguably more than—any single event in U.S. history”. It was marked by significant advances in technology and industry that had broad and enduring impacts. Even though the start of the industrial revolution is said to have begun in the first half of the 19th century, the real industrialization of America did not begin until after the Civil War. The American economy accelerated its growth after the Civil War as it entered “The Second Industrial Revolution,” generally recognized as the period between 1870 and 1914. This secondary movement created long lasting effects in many areas for America. The most significant consequences of the industrialization of America
In an article “Our minds can be hijacked” by Paul Lewis, the growing controversy over our addiction to checking our phones, why our people are addicted, and the rising symptoms of this problem were examined and discussed. A collection of the sources were in agreement that smartphones have become attention thieves and have robbed us of our own minds. The worldly titan of technology has become a supreme constant in the United States, connecting people through apps such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and other social media sites. However has it become more than just a tool or a toy and began to dominate society?
For many of us, our days begin and end with checking our phones. We check them again when we get out of the shower, at meals, during meetings, at red lights, and while watching television. We even check them while having conversations with those sitting right in front of us. On average, we check our phones 85 times per day (Andrews, Sally, et al.), so frequently that many of us rarely have quiet moments to sit in silence, to contemplate, or to observe what is happening around us. Although communication technology benefits us in many ways, I believe its overuse can have detrimental effects and I find value in taking regular breaks from the digital world.
The history of technology begins two and a half million years ago with the stone age. Flint was split and sharpened to be used as a tool. Within a hundreds of thousands of years these stone tools became specialized for boring, scraping, cutting and sharp points. Five hundred thousand years ago in China, man discovers fire. The Neolithic period 8000BC of the Stone age brought about many new technologies. These technologies are pottery, textiles, bricks made in Jericho made of clay or mud and sun dried, the spinning spindle which brought about knitting. Around 6500BC, man discovers the kiln and more uses for fire. The loom is built in 6000BC along with weaving. In 4000BC, the first miners began mining copper in the Balkans and at this time the yoke and harness was invented, along with smelting and casting. In Sinai peninsula 3800BC, copper was being mined and was smelted. 3000BC brought forth quite few important inventions such as the wheel in Europe ,potter's wheel in Mesopotamia, plough along with draught animals in Egypt and Mesopotamia. 2800BC silk is woven in China and in 2500
Technology has developed into highly useful, effective pieces of equipment and machinery. With various uses, it has molded its way into peoples’ lives and daily routines. Now, technology has turned away from being simply a material object and has become a human’s lifeline and friend. Technology is a drug. It consumes people of all ages and weaves itself into the lives of people and can even become addictive. In 2007, Apple invented the iPhone. The iPhone instantly grew in popularity and began to spread internationally. What was once seen as a technological gadget now has become a personal assistant. New and improved versions of the phone have been created and the latest is the future iPhone 8, which is said to be released in September 2017.
Many people in today’s society rely on technology to help us with our daily lives and help us stay connected to family, friends, and other people. The advancements in today’s cell phone technology is very complex and made to be efficient for their owners, allowing them to surf the net and IM message people instantly. Cellphones in particular have developed very fast in the past 15 years. From my childhood, cell phones have evolved from the old school Nokia bricks that allowed texts, calls, and simple graphic games, to todays I-Phones that have higher computable capabilities than some computers. In the United States alone, there is an estimated population of around 297 million people, and 197 million people are subscribed to cell phone companies (Starr). With so many people in today’s society with so much power and opportunity in the palm of their hands, we shouldn’t forget that “With great power comes great responsibility” –Voltaire.
The standard 21 year old adults have exchanged 250 thousand emails, spent 5 thousand hours video gaming and 10 thousand hours using their mobile devices (Lei, 2009). When people hear the word technology, they think of microwaves, televisions, cars, NASA, different types and transportation and more. For all that, technology has occurred long ahead these discoveries. Technology is an arguable matter amongst people. .In the old days, people lived an extremely simple life without technology. They used candles to light their houses and lanterns at the dark to travel, they used fire to cook and used newspapers and mail to share news. On the other hand, technology has seized an important place in our society. People are living in a stage of progressive technology. They are using all natural reserves applicable for making their lives better and easier. The society cannot picture life without electricity since it allows them to live through their everyday life. This paper argues that technology positively impacts people’s lives.
Every day of our lives, we watch as technology advances in leaps and bounds, so it was only logical when the cell phone came into existence, it would also be necessary to develop ways for a phone to be more than just a phone. With the explosion of the internet age people needed a way to bring their computers on the go, one that could fit in the palm of their hand. Whether it be checking emails, updating social networks or even playing games, smartphones seem to do it all. There is, however, a dark side to every technological advance that is made, to everything that makes our lives more convenient. Smartphones are not only an enormous distraction in our lives but are also known to cause health problems in those
In today’s day and age practically everybody possesses a smartphone. We live in a world full of electronics which we are hugely dependent on. Computers, mobile phones and other types of electronics have their roots in our everyday lives and have become one of the most important parts of them. When you glance around yourself, wherever you go most people are staring into a small screen. We are not paying attention to where we are and not noticing where we exist in the world. It is turning us into creatures living inside our isolated devices, detached from one another and from the physical world, in relationship only with our electronics and the image of ourselves.