iPhones, iPads, MacBooks….. Pay Phones, Landlines, Type Writers, and Newspapers. Technology has evolved immensely over the years and is constantly teetering on this seesaw debating whether or not its has impacted us positively or negatively. Its turned 180 degrees in terms of how everyone in society has been influenced by technology. Years ago parents were yelling at their kids to come inside for dinner and nowadays they’re yelling at their kids to get off their gaming system or put their phone away to go play outside. It’s definitely a different world and the demand for technology is significantly higher than it was back then. Was it needed decades ago? Yes of course. But to the level it is now is unbelievable. I want to go over and paint a picture of how technology has changed the world and us as human beings.

Lets take a trip down memory lane…

Back when our parents were young chaps like myself it was a much different time. They never had the access to the rabbit holes technology offers today. It was only ever used out of necessity and convenience. They never had the opportunity to pull out their phone and order an Uber if they needed a ride. If their car broke down, they would need to hitchhike to their location or nearest gas station in order to fix whatever the problem was, they couldn’t just pull out their phone and order a tow truck. Back then it was much much harder, but it obviously wasn’t perceived in that way. If you were to take someone from this day and age and plant them in the 70’s then they would be taken back with the limitations at hand. Can’t pull up social media when you’re bored or go to your X-Box, you have to make the most of what you’re given.

Back then it was never as relied upon as much as it is now. Families breezed by seamlessly with 25% of the technology we have now. Is the technology nowadays making it easier for us? Most certainly. But in no way is a lot of it necessary. My parents are 59 and 57 respectfully and were always dealing with the minimal amount of tools. In school everything was handwritten. Imagine telling a high school student that he has to write his 1,000 word essay with just a pen, I’m more than positive that every single student would be enraged. When back then that’s all the students knew! Oh you’re bored? Nowadays you jump on X-Box with your friends and go on your phone until you eventually get bored and go to sleep. But like I said in the intro, it was nearly impossible to kids inside because they never had the option to resort to technology to keep them busy. They would all agree on a meeting place for certain time, meet up after school in a park, play any sort of park/playground game until it was dinner, go eat then play again until it got dark. It’s amazing how back then, life seemed so easy.

Nowadays technology is all that most of these kids know. As much as you want to get after them, it’s really hard to blame them. It’s constantly being pushed on us and all that schools and companies are resorting to. As much as it has become easier, it’s made it really really tough and inconvenient, especially when it doesn’t work how its supposed to. Technology at some point in time is going to break down and fail. To think that it’s the plan for everything is severely risky. Like I was editing a video and all of a sudden my laptop decided to shut down out of no where and update. I turn my laptop back on and the video was deleted and I lost all my progress. So it’s definitely something that can be extremely frustrating when it’s promoted as such a special thing.

Despite every negative aspect I’ve said, how the technology has advanced from where it was 30 years ago is quite unbelievable and in a sense breathtaking…

Technology has clearly stepped up its game and has changed our lives drastically. Yes I’ve pointed out how it literally drives us INSANE and infuriates us till the end of the Earth but it’s also such a blessing that is almost surreal, like you feel it shouldn’t exist. WE HAVE SELF DRIVING CARS NOW……. WHAT?! The way it has stepped up has really changed everything. It has really made communication easier and a lot more convenient. If there is ever to be an emergency its much more easier to pull out your cellphone and dial 9-1-1 than it is to run back to your house and use your landline. Research and schoolwork has gotten immensely easier with the fact you don’t have to go to the local library and hope that they have the right book in stock so that you can finish your essay on time. If you were about to handwrite your 2,000 word essay and 1,300 words in you realize you made mistakes and had nothing to fix it then you had to restart your paper and try to gain that time back when now you can simply press back space on your computer and continue on. Back then when you were shopping, if the item you want is sold out in store or doesn’t have your size then you would either have to drive to every location or just wait till that store got it back in stock. Now you can simply go to the stores website and order it online.

Even watching TV. The only time kids were able to watch cartoons was on Saturdays but nowadays you can access any episode of any cartoon any time you want to. If you’re going to be busy during a game or show and you don’t want to miss it, before you were hooped and had to pull yourself away from your plans to make sure the Canadiens are beating the Bruins. But now you can simply press record and watch the game when you’re at home.

I write this article because it’s important to not take what we have at our finger tips for granted. But we also can’t get lost in the little screen and ignore what’s most important. Get outside, turn your phone off for some time, only use it when its a complete necessity. Sitting on the couch and scrolling through TikTok is a giant waste of time when there’s probably some of your friends out there that either want to go for a walk, a drive, or even get a game a basketball going. Yes technology is futuristic and extremely advanced, but its important to keep what we used to be at heart. As kids we used to bike to friends house to see if they want to play or hangout but now we wait for a text back and if we don’t get it then we resort back to doing nothing.

Technology is amazing and has grown larger than life, but it shouldn’t be able to take over the kid inside and prevent you from simply living.