In the age of smartphones and social media, there is almost no area of life where technology hasn’t had a big impact. News is now instantly accessible; food can be delivered to your door within an hour, and we can easily speak to family and friends worldwide. It’s also had a big impact on the gaming industry, with mobile gaming now a huge part of many peoples’ lives.
It’s easy to take these things for granted and forget there was a time before so much easy access to information, not to mention convenience. With this in mind, let’s take a look at how technology has changed how we work and play.
Easy communication
There was a time when the telephone was dubbed as the solution to communication, and to a degree, mobile phones still aid communication greatly. However, advances in technology have now led to video calling, high-speed broadband, and the ability to connect with anyone at any time at the click of a mouse.
The global pandemic of 2020 was certainly made more bearable for many people due to the fact that we had Zoom calls and could talk to people we could no longer meet thanks to a worldwide lockdown. It also forced companies to investigate the viability of homeworking, and now many people have swapped the boardroom table for the kitchen table permanently.
Decreased privacy
The impacts of technology are of course not all positive. While it might be easier to communicate with people, our privacy has taken a significant hit. Access to technology has completely changed the way we live. Shopping is now done online; Google is the go-to tool, and almost everything we could ever need is now on the Internet. Inevitably this means that we spend more of our time surfing the web, which has given us a digital footprint that isn’t always as private or secure as we would hope.
Of course, technology companies are acutely aware of the failings and loopholes used by hackers to access information and do their best to protect their customers, but there is an element of personal responsibility to keep ourselves safe online.
Instant gratification now the norm
Everything we could ever need is now available online, including shopping, access to information, entertainment, gaming etc. For many people, they’ve replaced their high street shopping habits with browsing Amazon thanks to the convenience and ease of use it provides. However, technology has not bypassed the high street completely and for those who still prefer to shop in person, the effects of the digital age can also be seen clearly here.
Contactless payments are now the most modern and increasingly common way to pay for purchases. Using mobile phones rather than bank cards has taken away some of the security concerns about anyone accessing your bank. A lot of people simply no longer carry cash at all since it’s so much more convenient to just tap your phone on the contactless payment point. In addition, it is possible to shop for almost anything you could ever want and have it delivered the next day, meaning there is no longer any need to wait for anything.
Changing social interactions
Social media platforms have taken over many of our social interactions. There are benefits to this of course – it means families can easily see what their loved ones are getting up to by simply logging into Facebook or Instagram, but there are downsides too. One major downside being that it means that generations of younger people are living in a virtual world rather than the real one a lot of the time. It has also led to a lot of young people feeling self-conscious and anxious about the way they look because unrealistic expectations are plastered all over social media for them to see.
Lockdown compounded this problem significantly, and even when the world opened back up, many people had become so conditioned to living on the Internet that they no longer leave the house to socialize, preferring instead to the company of strangers in the virtual world. During the same period though, it gave a lot of enjoyment for those looking to play online slots in Canada and other locked down countries in the world. This love for online slot games has now stuck with many and become a key part of people’s leisure time – all of which has directly been impacted by advances in technology.
Conclusion
It’s clear to see that technology has impacted every aspect of life in both positive and negative ways. Some of these could be lifesaving with new methods of tracking various health data through wearable devices, but some could be seen as detrimental to a happy and healthy life. However, there is certainly no sign that technological progress will be slowing down any time soon, with artificial intelligence and virtual reality high on development agendas.