Digital Technology Paper

EQ: How does digital technology better society?

Introduction:
In our generations, we have come to appreciate the digital devices that have come up making life easier. In our past, the movement and connection between different countries, and or even people had taken a long time to connect with each other because of the lack in advance digital devices. For example, if Paul Revere, the American, most famous for his night-time alerts of the British movement, could have simply been easier if he made a phone call, but that was in the late 1700's. Today, I find myself embracing the cool, advance digital devices that are being made to make things quick and easy. The convenience of digital technology has provided easier connection and communication with society due to Cell phones, TV and Social Networks.

Argument 1:
Our society has always relied on cell phones to quickly connect ourselves with people from long distances. I have a Cell phone and I use it almost everyday, because I do not have to struggle throughout the day trying to contact someone. Cell phones, which was first invented in 1973 by Dr. Martin Cooper changed the communication industry for good. Because of his development of the first cell phone, today we have the opportunity to commit to either job interviews or simply contact an old friend. People claim that cell phones have taken over lives and that because of that, we are not able to be aware of reality because we are casually "yapping" away. That's just one negative, but what about the many possible positives? Mary E., A mobile cell phone user, has praised the invention of cell phones because of the possible and threatening tragedy that could of happen to her granddaughter. "… three men tried to kidnap my 14 year old granddaughter. A motorist who was passing by, saw the struggle, she stopped, blew her car horn, and said she was calling 911 on her cell phone; my granddaughter was able to escape and ran home." (Mary E.) In emergency, a cell phone dialed to 911 was able to save Mary E.'s granddaughter, which conveniently caused the three men to allow the victim to run away. Now imagine if cell phones weren't around and 911 could not be dialed, Mary E. would probably not have been to able to see her granddaughter get away. Emergency phone calls are definitely convenient when one is in harms way, or in trouble because then it is possible for people to become saved, in this case Mary's granddaughter. Not only are cell phones conveniently great in emergency, but if worst comes to happen to someone, "Cell phones also have a great tracking device on them. It is a very important service to have…it can be used to tract missing or lost persons." (Mary E.) Cell phones can be used in many different ways positively that everyone seems to miss out on. They are fooled because of the little problems such as texting which distracts people from reality.

Cell phones you can also consider has removed the use of writing and sending letters. Before cell phones, writing letters to people were popular because it was a way to contact someone without leaving your home. Letters were nice, but took to long to reach the other person, and who knew if your letter even made it to that person. With cell phones, this shortened that time by a lot. Cell phones can contact another cell phone within 5-30 seconds, a letter could take up to 1 to whenever amount of days it takes to reach the next person. Cell phones has conveniently helped our society today by making communication with others faster and easier than it was in the past.


Argument 2:
Television plays a huge part in society that has conveniently helped the world see what happens in other parts of the world we did not of. TV, a world-wide phenomenon, since 1934, has been able to keep us in contact nationally and internationally with interesting topics because of shows like "CNN" or "NBC" because they provide coverage to issues we alone my not of heard of. People believe that television has very strong negative attributes, it causes disembodiment with kids and adults because we are so engaged with what is on screen. But what about books? Books can also be considered as a threat because that too can cause disembodiment because our minds are focused on reading and understanding the text. Well, then people might argue back, that when we read books, we are also using our brain and in television you do not. I beg to disagree.

In "Everything Bad is Good for you", by Steven Johnson he brought up good points about how digital technology is good for us that not many people like to argue. He explained how television shows complexity that began in the 80's have helped us understand even more complex shows present day. Mostly he talked about multithreading which is how TV shows with complex narrative stories kept people watching, and TV shows with single-plot narrative stories held viewers for a short while. "…the first screening of Hill Street [(a complex narrative show)] pilot in may 1980 brought complaints from viewers that the show was too complicated. Fast forward twenty years and shows like The Sopranos engage their audience with narratives that make Hill Street look like Three's Company."(Everything Bad is Good for you, Johnson) Conveniently without us ever really realizing it, people have become more opened and I think smarter because after two decades of exposure with complex narrative shows we the capacity to understand complex plots. This has bettered our society because multithreaded dramas are present in books and televisions and because of our exposure to it in the 80's to now, we've learned how to understand it.

Argument 3:
Since 1985, the first online social network made, has kept people in contact with others without sending a letter or calling them. It has been used as the quickest and easiest way to contact a person and conveniently, one can now get it in on their cell phone too. Social Networks are built on online communities by providing a system to find people who you just met or someone you met years ago. I believe social networks have made a positive change in society because I believe it has connected us more to the people we are surrounded by. "…the Internet has now allowed this circle of friends and colleagues to span the entire globe, and provided people are careful to use the Internet in moderation and in balance, these social networks will only serve to enhance human relationships, and to benefit society…"(LoveToKnow corp.) Now if only people could get past the fact that, yes social networks can lead to massive amount of time on the computer, but it is only to build relationships outside.


Opposing Viewpoints:
Although digital devices have conveniently made a difference in society, people also argue, that it has also made us lazy. Like television and social networks, it has created a massive amount of time consumed by sitting down and detachment from society. Social Networks has "…hurt society is through the obsession factor. This kind of excessive computer use can quickly lead to a dysfunctional lifestyle where other important daily activities, such as exercise, maintaining healthy sleeping and eating habits, and spending time with family and friends, are almost completely ignored."(LoveToKnow corp.) This is all based upon the strength of mind on the human being not being able to control oneself, for a fact I know myself to be on social networks for quite amount of time, but I have control over myself so I think it really depends on the person. Even though all that was described as a side effect of social networking was negative, study shows "…that most children who spent time conducting computer-based activities spent no less time on activities such as reading, sports or outside play than children without home computers."(LoveToKnow corp.) So what does that say about social networks, it cannot be all negative.

Television, another culprit of negatively impacting society is represented by mass studies of how it makes us lazy and detaches us from reality. One of the most main and common argument for it is; it stops us from doing "…fruitful and healthy activities like exercise or reading."(Buzzle.com) I always disagree with statements like this, but some of it is true because mass studies exemplify the fact that people become lazy. One thing I do not understand is, why can't reading be put in the same category as Television? In reading, we sit in one spot and we focus our brains in one general area, and we make sense of the text we read. Same way with television. But I believe television has helped us better understand hard text because of the constant exposure to multithreading, which is conveniently provided by TV programs, for example E.R. or 24.


Conclusion:
But do you really argue convenience with laziness? I guess. Making something quick and easier in some people's eyes is considered lazy. But why challenge yourself and make something harder if there is an easy way out of it. In my eyes, I think it is brilliant that someone invented a phone, because then I would not have to wait for them to send a letter. Just dial their phone number. I think it is brilliant that they invented social networks, now I do not have to dial, I just type. All making things, easier and quicker. Digital devices have bettered our society because of today's technology which conveniently makes things much quicker and easier.



Sites/Text used:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/247569/cell_phones_necessity_or_convenience_pg2_pg2.html?cat=12

Everything Bad is Good for you: By, Steven Johnson

http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Are_Social_Networks_Harmful_to_Society

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-television.html