Advance of Technology

I know this entry is coming in really late, but I thought I'd write it anyway.

In just ten years, my usage of technology has increased significantly. Obviously, technology has advanced in that time, but even the uses of the technology that was available did not compare to what is so commonplace today. Now, it seems very natural that one should be able to walk around with thousands of songs at their disposal, to turn on, off, or up -- even to the point where it is considered an inconvenience if such a service is not available! I do, however, remember a time where it was a luxury to carry around more than one CD to play in my discman.

Of all the things that have progressed, internet technology has become possibly the most commonly used. Until I got to high school, websites were not accepted parts of any bibliography. Now, although teachers often request that student include research completed from magazines, books, interviews, etc., I think they are losing the expectation that the students actually will branch out from the web.

The negative influence that I've observed in the internet is that it seems to create an impulsiveness in people that was not previously there. Before there was so much information available, any kind of research had to be premeditated for hours or days. Even finding the right book in the library was work enough to make today's college students wince. Without so many people linked onto social networking sights (Myspace, Facebook, etc.), contact with people not in one's immediate group of close friends was less likely to happen, because with daily updates on Myspace, people do not seem so separated. Although this is not in itself a bad thing, the impulsiveness that is developing in this generation is potentially destructive.

I, however, do realize the positive influence that is so obvious. The internet has changed my habits in a way that I currently recognize as for the better (even though who knows how I will feel in the future). Information is available literally at my fingertips, and just because the research can be conducted as soon as I think of what I want to learn about, I've acquired information that I definitely would not be aware of if I had been forced to take a bus to the library and go through dozens of books that were wrong for what I was looking for. And, the internet now contains sources that are academically acceptable. Even books and magazine articles have been transcribed online. Even though I would be fine with living in the simpler time, it is very exciting to be living through a technological revolution.