DRIVING QUESTION- Could I Live Without Digital And Communication Technologies?

Is it possible in today's day and age, in the 21st century to live without digital and communication technologies?

Technology is a part of everyday life, we use some sort of digital and communication technology for almost everything that we do. It permeates the lives of people living within the 21st century. Everything we see, hear, touch or feel has been affected by technology in some way. It's common to see a girl walk down the street, headphones in and jamming along to the latest song on the charts. Or see a businessman write an email on his phone while on the tram. Or even see a grandfather playing candy crush on an iPad with his grandchildren. This is a normal part of daily life...

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I could not live without digital technologies. There I said it… One of the main reasons is; well…because technology keeps me connected and on top of my busy schedule. And secondly, well… whether you believe it or not almost everything in our society has had some sort of technological process. I argue that if you were to try and live without digital communication technology within our modern society you actually might not live at all.

One of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning is turn off my alarm or check for messages, or other notifications (on my phone). My laptop is used throughout the day for work. And, to keep track of my family and our weekly schedules, we use the apple calendar app. It keeps us aware of what everyone has during that week. Technology helps me stay connected to my family, even when I am not home.

An article written by Sue Shallenbarger, for the wall street journal explores the idea of using technology in the modern family life and how it gives busy working families a means of staying connected and being organized within the chaos of everyday 21st-century life. She says that “while using technology to manage family life might seem to risk turning everyone into robots, parents say the tools help them feel calmer and more in control” (S.S, 2010). Technology helps us in the modern world to stay on top of things and without it, I’m sure our society would not function as it does today.

To live without digital communications and technologies we might find that we do not live at all…. Everything we touch, see or hear has been or will be affected by technology in some way. Even the chair you sit on to read this post, would have been made using technology (designed and produced using technology), and ordered by the store using digital communication, and paid for using either card (technology) or cash (that went through some sort of device like a register). This is the society that we live in, our job is to make technology work in the best way to help us function as a society better.

So.... to end this post, I admit that I cannot live without technology and you cannot either.

Wix, 2018

References:

Shellenbarger, S. (2010, Dec 09). C-suite: Life / work -- work & family: Cramming even more into their 24 hours --- families use technology as calendar, organizer, communication tool. Wall Street Journal Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.acu.edu.au/docview/816517501?accountid=8194

Wix [Comuter program]. (2018). Retrieved from wix.com

All photos are from the Wix website- Wix, 2018