Back in the day, television was considered the climax of technology. Today, our society has come to a point where technology that we could never have imagined 20 years ago is being invented, all the time. Think about how much we all depend on technological products. Think about how there always is an easier way to do something with the aid of technology. Think about all the different times you use technology each day. Think about how advanced in terms of technology we are.
Try to picture what could even be thought of being invented 50 years from now. Amazing right? Now pretend all of that went away. Pretend technology ceased to exist. It seems horrible, but really, when you give it some thought you realize that since it's been done before, why can't it be done now? If 20 years ago we didn't have things called “iPods” or “cell phones,” why can't we just throw them all away? Why do we need these things so badly? The answer is: we, as the major countries of the world, have installed technology so vastly into our everyday lives, never thinking about what might happen if it went away, that if one day our iPods and our cell phones and our hybrid cars stopped working, all of us would suffer, for better and for worse. People shouldn't be so dependent on technology. People should not live their lives around technology. Sure, technology helps everyone out to some degree, but technology can also become an addiction, an addiction that we cannot stop.
In 50 years from now, when technology is even more advanced than it is now, imagine how much more we will be addicted to technology. No one is saying technology should be stopped entirely, because frankly, technology does save us time, and technology does help us for the better. All that should be observed is that technology should be controlled in a livable non-life changing way.
It's always fun to use technology, however, if becoming dependent is evident, then other needs such as good health, exercise, sleep time, education, and even things such as family or friends are sacrificed (StraightUp). Life goes by fast, with many opportunities that should be given to everyone. Technology only speeds it all up, forcing you to wave at them as they pass by, without getting a chance to try doing it with your own two hands, and accomplishing something without the use of unnecessary technological products.
The average teenager living in a modernized world has a cell phone for which he/she uses every day in order to keep in touch with all of his/her friends every minute, all the time (Insurance Information Institute). The last generation didn't have cell phones when they were kids. Even their parents didn't have cell phones. A statistic shows that 17 years ago, in 1990, when cell phones first started to come out, approximately 4.3 million people subscribed to cell phone companies (Insurance Information Institute). Now, in the year 2007, about 231 million people have cell phones (Insurance Information Institute). There are only about 300 million people living in the United States. Only about 70 million people in the United States do not have cell phones. Cell phones have become a must-have in our lives (Insurance Information Institute). It's usual for a teenager to be walking around chattering away on their own cell phone.
In the last generation, when teens were bored and wanted to do something they would play outside, play sports, and basically do something physical (StraightUp). Nowadays, when teenagers claim that they are finished with their homework and have nothing to do, they spend the rest of their day calling up all their friends and talking to them until it's time for bed. Talking with friends is not bad in any way; nevertheless, kids could be doing something with them, something physical and entertaining at the same time. At least they could exercise while having fun with their friends, instead of just sitting on the couch or lying down on the bed with the phone raised up to your ear for hours and hours. Technology has made us lazy. It has made everything so easy, that we have taken full advantage of it and forget that we're just wasting our time in the end (straight up).
Right now, people from the next generation are in school, growing up, about to be released into the world. They're going to need jobs in order to support themselves and their families. What might they want to pursue? Actor, computer engineering, writer, doctor, musician, etc. Technology could even replace a friend. A Japanese robot called Wakamuru can “house sit,” interact with other people, and not surprisingly tell news of what's happening around the world with updates from the Internet (Runyan 1). Moreover, wouldn't they want to take on their job and learn as they go, instead of technology doing the job for them? They would want to supply all of their own efforts in creating or doing whatever it is that they are required to do. Basically, they don't want technology doing all the work (Runyan 1). Now, and the coming years, technology will have taken a large percent in human functions (Runyan 1). People will not be expected to do even half the amount of work that technology will do. People might not even be needed whatsoever. Take, for example, an actor. Many movies have begun using a movie effect called CGI, or computer generated graphics (Runyan 1). Actors can sit aside and wait as movie directors and producers sit on their computers, creating a part of a movie all without the use of an actual actor (Runyan 1).
-Technology Loving Teen:)