Hey Guys,
My class just got done reading the novel Fahrenheit 451. We have to write a research paper that answers the question: How has technology been integrated into everyday life.
As members of a forum, answers are anonymous and anything biased will not be influenced because of me. You can answer in any way shape or form as long as it answers the question. I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread for a bit.
Thanks!
Prime example is a car. Look at the electronics in it. The engine computer has done away with a myriad of carburetor tuning issues, ABS breaks sense when a wheel locks up and is about to skid. Adaptive cruise control that maintains a fixed space between you and the guy in front. Parking assist that senses how close the car is to an object.
social life is run on electronics
work life is run on electronics
free time involves electonics…
the way you are finding your answers involves electonics.
How has electonics been intergrated into life? Electronics is life (refernce to pace makers, dialysis, etc)
bump! A few more replies from various posters would be awesome. The more opinions I get, I can get a graph.
I really can’t imagine a day where technology at some level doesn’t play some factor in my life.
Most of my work resolves around data communications. So I’m working with building the internet, large and small networks, computers and other solutions involving computer and data related technology. A lot of my other every day work involves me sitting around in front of computers, doing audio and/or video work, document capture, media capture(including film) as well as consulting. Also, you have to think that the only way people can respond to this and “do your own work for you” is via this methood of technology.
My preferred line of work, pro audio, is deeply immersed in technology. Analog vs. digital is a big arena. Digital consoles vs analog consoles. Analog recording solutions vs digital recording solutions. Microphones may seem a bit strange, but I must sometimes choose a particular type of microphone technology that I feel will work best for a particular source, which can be dynamic, ribbon or condenser. I do not currently have any carbon mics or any tube mics, well, at least not for production Carbon mics are still commonly used in telephones. Tube microphones can be very affordable.
My work with pro audio and computers frequently crosses paths or integrates. As well as with lighting. I do lighting as well. Lighting is very technology driven, moving from conventional(incandescent) to LED’s. My control of lighting has moved from a simple DMX controller to one software/computer basd package to another computer based package. My lights have expanded from being controller by dimmer and power packs, to also include intelligent lighting and foggers, which also include LED PAR-type lights and even moving head fixtures. Shows have gone from sound, lighting and video being their own stand-alone universes, to in some cases, the video driving a lot of the audio and lighting and hence automation. Ah, time code and sequencing!
How many of us can’t even function without our cell phones? Yeah, that’s what they thought, most of us here.
Entertainment can often be in the form of various forms of technology. Video games and TV come to mind, as well as movies. I tend to leave printed books, magazines and other print media off of this list, mostly since I’m not talking about the technology behind making them as well as getting them into your hands.
Even our yoyo hobby has gone high-tech. When I started(and then stalled and then stopped) in 1978, the Duncan Imperial and Butterfly were where it was at. The better people got Butterfly, the rest got Imperial(for the most part). So, you can imagine my temporary brain overload when I discovered ball bearings in yoyos. Response systems may not be as high tech, but it’s still technology. The technology that went into designing and making the yoyos is amazing. Then again, I think CNC machines are pretty cool. Not as technical(so it seems) are the plastic injection molding processes used for the plastic components. Going more “stone age” so to speak, are the wood yoyos, which still requiring some decent technology in the form of lathes.
Too many of my kids toys involve electronics. I’m kinda going on an anti-battery period, which is part of what got me to choose yoyo as something to amuse myself with. Fortunately the kids seem to be in it with me on this whole yoyo thing.
I have to drive to my in-laws shop to do stuff there. I need to drive my truck to sites to do gigs. Gas vs. diesel technology, since my truck is diesel. Plus, the technology I encounter along the way… stop signs, magnetic sensors, video cameras for monitoring traffic as well as photo enforcement of people running stop lights. There’s also an area that lights a sign between 4PM and 6PM for “no U-Turn”, so they have to transmit a network clock to the traffic signal controller that also knows when to turn that sign on and off. There’s also the strobe sensors for emergency vehicles so emergency vehicles ca manipulate the traffic signals so they can speed to incidents. Plus, there’s various controllers and timers for turning the street lights on and off.
A bit more passive reminders is aircraft, especially when you’re not using it yourself. I’m often reminded of this due to the darn near constant low-flying helicopters in my area.
On a more personalized level, some people need technology to survive. There are motorized limbs, things like pacemakers, kidney dialysis machines, people who have to test for diabetes, hearing aids and even cochlear implants that can enable hearing(to various degrees of success). There’s other medical miracles of technology that I can’t describe enough to be useful to you. My experience with medical technology that I can be aware of was being connected to a heart monitor when I had a bad reaction to a medicine. A little back story, I had hiccups that lasted a week, and the doctors were trying to treat it with drugs, which honestly didn’t help. I had a reaction to the thorazine that was well documented, so I had to go into the ER and as part of their precautionary practices, hooked me up to a heart monitor. I was Ok, they just had to give me a shot of what was an antihistamine and I was doing a lot better in 20 minutes. Other than that, my experience with medical technology is either something I’m NOT allowed to discuss, OR getting calls from the doctor’s offices to remind me of things like appointments.
For the most part, none of us can escape technology. If you’re reading this, then that proves it right there. But even for those living in the middle of nowhere, like it or not, even trying to live “off the grid”, technology still applies, just at a different level. Unless we’re running around naked and eating bugs and plants and sleeping in caves or under trees and other coverings, we’re affected by technology in some way.
But if you’re naked and eating bugs and plants, then you’re not reading this and clearly this doesn’t apply to you! Now go put some pants on!
bump! Studio42’s post was really helpful! The more I get, the better the essay will be!
Technology, one might say, has become a necessity. Handfuls of people can’t even wake up to go to work or school without using an alarm, as apposed to sleeping early. Clocks are put in almost every room of a workspace or a school. Electronic bells sound off warning you to get to your next class. Medical health has also had a successful effect by using bioengineering. Many lives were saved because of it that might not have if another technique was used. Video games are creating a whole parallel world where users who aren’t proud of their life can create a new one. Cell phones are becoming more prominent than computers. Maps are almost extinct due to the recent boom of the GPS.
Humans depend so much on technology that a transition to primitive techniques might prove fatal. Technology wakes me up in the morning, takes me somewhere, types my papers, and does so many other things. Without it, many would probably be more fit, more active, more intelligent, and more bonded. (I’d use this paragraph as your conclusion)
Technology makes almost everything we use and enjoy. The question is a very big question to fill that is for sure, it would probably be easier to explain what in our lives is not influenced by technology. That would be a very short list. The question is so broad it is more or less imposible to answer but you have no shortage of things to talk about for sure.
In responce to the title of your post, my car, yoyos, planes that I fly on, computer, and my alarm clock are the pieces of technology that are most in my everyday life.
One of the big things is banking.
Not too long ago, you would have to go into a bank, fill out a tedious form and wait in a queue.
Now I can do it online without having to go to the bank. No computer? Use your phone. I can pay my rent from my cellphone in 3 mins. Out of airtime? Oh, I can buy that at home using my cellphone.
Want to BST some yoyos? Sweet! You can just PayPal the money to virtually anywhere.
I think a lot of people don’t realise what a pain banking was before online banking.
I no longer own books. Just One Kindle. ALso for example this website, we could never yoyo if we didn’t have the technology to get on this and order yoyos to be delivered acroos the country in around 2 days. Also,tonight I spent 7 hours editing music. I could never have done this precise editing work with free software let alone be listening to this music if it weren’t for the internet, youtube, and audacity.
ANother thing I’d like
How has technology made your life more productive.
How has technology made your life more unproductive
How has technology made changed your life in a positive/negative way?
Technology keeps us connected but…what are we connected to? I’ve never seen so many alienated people. Go to an airport and everyone is totally plugged in, unaware of what’s going on around them. I meet people while skiing and they tell me that they are having a great time skiing with a family member or friend they haven’t seen for years. Then what happens? Their phone rings. They spend much of their day talking to someone that lives across the street instead of their family member or friend.
I love technology but I hate being on a leash! People are so engrossed in technology that they miss a lot of great real life experiences. Balance is lacking. It will be interesting to see how technology continues to change us socially.
On the other hand due to technology I can meet people all over the world while sitting at my computer. I learn about weird things like kinder surprises. (Ask a Canadian)
For me, it is in my life a lot. I even read on my ipod. I also do my math on the computer. One thing that i find interesting is that a lot of people(i bet) go to the internet for advice rather than a real person. I am not saying that I don’t do that acasionally, but the internet has made a lot of people start to not interact with other people face to face. Just a thought.
Technology has definitely made my life more productive. I can be sitting on a park bench, and if I have 10mins to spare, I can answer emails on my phone. I also have a passion for very many things, and because of technology, I can access information wherever I am. Just 10 years ago, I would have had to spend a few hours in a library searching for the right books to get the information I wanted, now it is available virtually anywhere almost instantly.
Technology has also made it easier for virtually anyone to open up their own business. It doesn’t matter if you have a passion for antiques, Pokemon figurines or vintage clothing, you could either start up your own website fairly easily, or simply use sites such as eBay to try drive business and make sales.
On the flipside, in some ways technology has made me more unproductive. Instead of sitting down for a couple of hours to do some intense research or work, sometimes I struggle to concentrate, constantly fidgeting with my phone or the computer, checking to see if anyone’s updated their Facebook status, liked my comment, or if there are any new interesting threads on YYE.
These days I make a point of having times where I just sit and observe / experience what is around me - or to give my brain some down time. Wherever I go, I see people constantly glued to their phones, Blackberrys or IPhones. I think many people are losing their ability to be content in silence, we’re losing our ability to enjoy peace, having a need to be constantly engaged in a million meaningless mini-soap operas.
Technology makes your life more productive by making it easier to connect with others, easier to do things that would normally take a long amount of time in a short amount of time. Technology also provides us with practically everything we use everyday.
Technology has made it more difficult to do things that people would once do very often. For example, babies used to have to learn how to read books. Now all parents do is hand them the ipad and it reads the book to them. they don’t bother to learn the necessary skill of reading.
Well, the obvious one is that right now (or right then) you were integrating this forum with your life. Technology has done a lot of things, it has made spread communication and ideas at almost unbelievable rates. If you really sit down and think about it, its amazing how fast ideas travel. I was also listening to NPR a night or two ago about how robots are making a bigger splash in the job industry. That might be something to include. A good way to get ideas though, is to imagine life without all this technology we have surrounding us, and I bet you will get a pretty good picture of hows its been integrated with our lives.