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The role of cell phones in society
Pros and cons of the internet
Pros and cons of the internet
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Recommended: The role of cell phones in society
In the essay "Television: The Plug-In Drug" by Marie Winn, the author explains how television separates people from each other. Television, she claims, replaces the human contact by keeping the television viewers interested in the television programming instead of having a human companion. In the essay "Dearly Disconnected" by Ian Frazier, the author describes the cell phone as an object that will take out the payphones, increase human contact and decrease privacy. For example, televisions and cell phones have left their marks in history, and the Internet is now making an entrance with the same controversy as television and cell phones in their times. As technology continues to improve more benefits and disadvantages start to evolve.
The Internet is a great tool for many different things. Having Internet access is like having a huge window to the world. A positive example about Internet is people can save a lot of time using the Internet in their daily life. In fact, people currently do not need to be physically in a certain place to pay bills, buy merchandise, and talk to people. Communication between people can be expensive some times, but the Internet now helps people keep in touch via e-mail, and other free communication programs. Many companies provide Internet service; therefore, these kinds of companies offer it for really low prices. Another reason is that companies know that in today's world Internet access is not a luxury, but is a necessity. Another great advantage of the Internet is that people can be shopping while they are lying down in bed. People have the opportunity to compare prices in different stores without going to every store. The Internet offers an open door to everybody, no matter race, age, gender or physical look. The positive aspects of Internet are great. The Internet now is part of people's daily lives, and is hard to live with out this great technology.
Education, expression, accessibility, these are all benefits to us as internet users. As Cascio said “Google isn't the problem; it's the beginning of a solution” (Cascio). Google is a part of the internet therefore Cascio’s words can still be applied to the idea of the internet being a tool of more use than harm. Technology has proven to be nothing but helpful by improving the life we live. The world is constantly changing and as humans we are too, as Cascio said “How do we cope? By getting smarter” (Cascio). This means we've allowed technology to assist in the tasks we can't do alone and found faster and better methods for problem solving instead of taking difficult and struggling
Today’s world has become so dependent on technology that people can hardly be away from their cell phone. In Fahrenheit 451, Mildred portrays one of those people. In the article, “Have we become too dependent on smart phone technology?” a woman and her friends test just how long they can be away from their cell phones. “‘The first 30 minutes to an hour all we talked about was how we missed our phones,’ Erebia said” (Ortega 1). The quote goes to show that people can hardly have conversation with out their security blanket, better known as their smart phone. “Smart phone technology is a double-edged sword when it comes to communication. Some people may be so engrossed in their phones that they would rather focus on that than on the person right in front of them – this is the bad – he said” (Ortega 2). At the end of this article everyone can agree that technology has a power over our lives.
Yet there are infinite examples of technologies which have the exact purpose of doing these things that have had extreme success. One prominent example of this is the cellphone. Before the cellphone was invented, if a family member moved, they would be complete diverged from their family with no hope of being able to communicate with them. But today, even if a father or mother is away because of work, their children will not have to suffer from the agony of not being able to see their family. Because of the cell phone, family bonds have become stronger than ever as physical barriers between parents and children cannot inhibit emotional
In “‘Plug In’ Better: A Manifesto”, technology writer and commentator Dr. Alexandra Samuel states that she believe that there is a middle ground between completely “plugging in” and “unplugging”. She states that we should approach our online interactions in the same ways we approach our offline ones. In “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” (part of the New York Times’ “Your Brain on Computers” series), journalist Matt Richtel details technology’s effects on an actual family and recounts their experiences. Although Drs. Restak and Samuel are both widely respected in their individual fields, Mr. Richtel’s journalistic career has been almost exclusively devoted to studying technology’s impact on our lives and attention, and his views are voiced loudly throughout his work, even though they are not explicitly stated.
Are technology and the media shedding the very fabric of the existence we have known? As technology and the media spread their influence, the debate over the inherent advantages and disadvantages intensifies. Although opinions vary widely on the subject, two writers offer similar views: Professor Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, in her article “Can You Hear Me Now” and Naomi Rockler-Gladen, who formerly taught media studies at Colorado State University, with her article “Me Against the Media: From the Trenches of a Media Lit Class.” Turkle asserts that technology has changed how people develop and view themselves, while at the same time affecting their concepts of time management and focus (270). Similarly, Rockler-Gladen believes media and its inherent advertising have had a profound effect on the values and thinking of the public (284). I could not agree more with Professor Turkle and Ms. Rockler-Gladen; the effects technology and media have worried and annoyed me for quite so time. The benefits of technology and media are undeniable, but so then are the flaws. People are beginning to shift their focus away from the physical world to the virtual world as they find it easier and more comfortable. The intended purpose of technology and media was to be a tool to improve the quality of life, not shackles to tie people to their devices. I no longer recognize this changed world and long for the simple world of my youth.
From the documentary I learned that although our phones and computers may be very helpful when it comes to work and education, they do force us to be connected
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
Rather than walking, we have cars to help us get to places quicker. Rather than talking with people face-to-face, we call on a telephone. New technology places value on doing things quicker and easier. McLuhan also believed that what changes people is the technology itself, not the content. In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, he proposed that we focus on the way each medium changes cultures and traditions and reshapes social life, rather than the content. He describes the content of the medium as a “juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.” (McLuhan 32). To him, focusing on the medium was important because he believed that different types of media changes the balance of our sense. We start isolating and highlighting different senses. For example, print technology highlights the visual aspect of the media, but isolates sound. However, electronic media, such as television, allows us to see and hear, and therefore, reconnects senses that have been isolated by previous media (e.g., print and radio). McLuhan expands on the effects of electronic media in War and Peach in the Global Village, arguing that electronic creates a “global village.” Because electronic media allows people
In the video “Video Killed the Radio Star”, it described that television has separated families form tight knitted circle groups to spread out individuals. Families use to eat at a table and talk about their day, but now they sit in front of the TV and do not communicate and only become stranger to one another. The presence of TV has limited family life by restricting interaction between family members, because nowadays a dad would rather watch TV than play catch with his son. Television is not the only form of media that influences family life, because now the internet is also a large contributor. The internet complicates our lives with countless emails and distractions form social media that it takes away from family focus. I know I am guilty of this because I would rather snapchat friends on my phone than talk to my dad, this is an example of the internet being a wedge in dividing family’s. Now Internet is how we connect with people instead of face to face interaction. An example of internets influence is when my parents are asking about my day and I am busy browsing social media networks instead of talking to them, examples such as this just shows the poor path society is heading via
Technology has changed our world dramatically over the last several decades. Several generations before us did not have air conditioning, telephones, television much less internet. However, today we have access to all of this and more. Technological advances have not only made changes in how we communicate, but also in how everyday tasks are done. The New York Times explains how social media affects children’s behavior and academics, and how the concept of dating has been altered while Louis C. K. explains how the 21st century takes little things for granted and YouTube channel charstarlineTV shows how daily activities can no longer be done without the use of cellphones.
People very often debate whether technology is good or bad. Many people believe that technology can only cause harm to their lives and society, while many others strongly defend the technologies which have made their lives much more leisurely and enriching than it could have been several hundred years ago. In my opinion, both of these views are correct to an extent, but I also believe that what should be examined is not whether technology in its self is good or bad, but rather how we as humans use it.For decades now, television has been accused of contributing to the dissolution of the American family and the destruction of the minds of those who watch it. However, although the TV has been involved in this, the problem roots not with technology but rather the people who choose to let it run their lives. I believe this because it is parents, not TV sets, who choose to let their children sit in front of the television for hours upon hours, and it is the parents who do not intervene and replace TV time with quality family time.
The new age of technology was born late last century in the form of the silicone chip. Since this early invention computers have progressed in leaps and bounds from the very basic early models to the now very complicated and very powerful computers of today. In between this growth the Internet developed into a mega market where billions of dollars are traded daily. It is a place where you can pretty much buy and sell anything you can think of. But with the development of such a powerful tool there are always going to be problems such as pornography, hackers, dodgy chat rooms and authenticity of information. But like with any argument you have to weigh up the good with the bad, the internet provides you with a wealth of information so that you can find out much on many different products, allows businesses to function so much more efficiently, there is also the availability of online learning.
The internet as we all know is probably the most useful resource known to man in this day of age. Not only is the internet easy to access its easy to use. Nearly everyone owns a computer and nearly all of which have access to the internet. But isn't that a good thing? Millions of people having the ability to access and share all the information anybody could ever want.
The main advantage of the Internet is that communication is made very easy. Two people on opposite sides of the world may communicate with each other via such things as videoconferences. This would save money on flights to other countries just to have a meeting when they can each communicate from their own office. The Internet is a very good place to advertise companies.
Internet as part of the history is the most important invention around the world which connects people thru phones, satellites and cables. People all over the world have access to it as it is everyday usage, and internet becomes globally real and in demand. To mention here, the usage for permits technically for travelling or getting tickets are electronically through internet, paying bills, shopping thru nets without going out (just browsing), playing games, and mostly the merit of possibly downloading music and movies in no time (just a click).