The Universe Revealed

Modern Technology

Modern Technology

It's hard for the youth of today to imagine a world without all of these modern gadgets that are literally ubiquitous these days. Actually, modern technology is both good and bad for us. Most people don't look at it in this way because they are immersed in it. I would like to discuss the good and the bad aspects of modern technology in a more analytical approach and from having seen it from the beginning.

Back in my day there were only a few technological advances. Automobiles, airplanes, radio and telephones were the only technical things available. Plastics were just in their infancy. Most things that were not made from wood or metal were fashioned from Bakelite (a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin). Vacuum tubes ruled electronics and airplanes had propellers. Radio was only AM and you had to wait for the tubes to warm up. Many people didn't have refrigerators. They used iceboxes in which were placed large blocks of ice. The telephone didn't have a dial. One picked it up to hear, "Number please?" If you wanted to hear music you listened to a record player using Bakelite or vinyl records, in some cases using a crank to run it. Medical science was still primitive. Penicillin was something that didn't appear until after World War II. The anesthetic of choice was ether. They did have X-ray machines but were ignorant about its dangers. Shoe departments in stores had an X-ray device so that you could see how well your feet fit in your new shoes. Many people suffered cancers and disfigurement from these devices. Social contact was face to face. If you wanted to talk to your friend you went to his or her house. A mechanical typewriter was the instrument of choice for a formal document. Photography used silver based films and papers. Space flight and digital electronics were only dreams.

But, all of this began to change because of the technical advances developed during World War II. But it would be all the way up to the late 50's and early 60's before you had a hand held transistor radio, and transistors in TV's were a decade away. I remember the first TV's. Someone in my neighborhood was the first to get one. It was a large console with a tiny screen and you had to pull the blinds in the daytime to watch it because it employed a crude cathode ray tube as the screen. I also remember some guy that fought in World War II in Europe and had confiscated a German wire recorder demonstrating it for me. It was amazing. You could talk into it and then hear your voice. I learned to process silver film and paper from my father and that made me interested in photography, which I still dabble in to this day. Digital photography started to appear in the late 60's but didn't catch on until later. I bought my first computer in 1981. It only displayed text and very crude graphics and you used floppy discs to record things. The idea of a laptop began to appear in the mid 80's but didn't really take off until later. The idea of a hand held device was just a dream until PDA's appeared like the Palm Pilots and the Apple Newton. It's amazing how much of what we see today in smart phones and pads are recent inventions. The internet (Web) only came on the scene in the early 90's and didn't get going until the late 90's.

If you think about it, the modern smart phone is a combination of a MP3 and MP4 player, a PDA, a digital camera, a GPS device, a handheld computer, and a phone. Something like that was science fiction back a few a decades.

What are the advantages of all of this new technology? For one, it gives us easy access to information. In the past before all of this technology one had to go to the library and look at books and then write things that you found using a pen on paper. Now information is only a few clicks away. We now have improved communication. We can talk to anyone in the world in seconds. That was totally impossible back in the day. One of the most prevalent advantages of this new technology is improved entertainment. We can watch movies and TV anywhere now. Back in the day, if you wanted to see a movie you went to a theater. Obviously, technology has increased productivity and efficiency, making many things affordable. Facebook has created a social network that involves the entire world. That would have been impossible back then. The other big improvement is in health maintenance. Medical records are available to all of ones providers.

However, technology has created a monster. Many people have lost jobs because of it. Students don't have to be as competent now. Many young people are unable to do math in their heads and write in cursive. Smart phones have become addictive and a dangerous distraction. However, I believe that the worst effect is that young people have lost creativity. Technology has also replaced human contact as a social interaction. This has created a feeling of loneliness because people can hide behind the shield of anonymity. Technology has replaced their lives. The youth of today are immersed in virtual worlds. This could lead to the Matrix, or at the least, mental illnesses.

Don't get me wrong; I like the new technology. I just wanted to express what it took to get to this point and the possible good and bad aspects of it. Peace!

Thanks for reading.