Essay on the Effects of Technology

Technology has been and still helping many people globally. During the 1900s, people have been living in a non-technological world in which most of their tasks and action do not depend on the reliability of technology. Although there were inventions that made their lives easier, the evolution of technology changed almost many things in the world. These changes encompasses the way people communicate with their friends and families, the way they do their daily tasks at work, and even the way they live our daily lives. This writing will discuss various benefits and advantages that the technology provides. Also, the risks and disadvantages that many technology opponents claim. Technology has changed the culture in many aspects, it may even make people’s lives easier, but the balance between the positive and negative effects may have given the society the notion on how to reduce the risks and make the technology beneficial.

Back in the old days, people used to do their tasks manually. Renowned poets and writers were able to produce a piece of their art in a traditional way, using pen and paper. With the help of technology, mass production of books became possible during the 1400s after Johannes Gutenberg introduced the first printing press (Thiebaud, 2010). Such technology may not have been that advanced, but it was a very useful piece of technological invention during those times. Little by little the technological advancement took it leap, as many inventors and people were able to develop them into a more useful one. A few decades ago, the computer was first introduced as a new form of technology. Its development caused a technological revolution, which inspired many people to adapt a fast phase change as the society moves deeper into the new century (Thiebaud, 2010). On the other hand, while the technology becomes more developed, the risks of the technology also increase. As a result, many people paid a very high price in order to acquire this type of technology, and were eager to spend more just to evaluate and experience the computer phenomena. Life became faster as we enter the technological revolution, which made people to work double time just to earn enough money. Many people were also accelerated and needed to multi-task in order to accomplish their jobs quickly (Thiebaud, 2010). However, these people may not have known that multi-tasking may cause them to be easily distracted. On the other side, these people became more productive, as the technology enabled them to do more tasks and earn more profit.

Technology may have been part of the world’s history. Another Benefit and could also be a risk of technology to the society is the banking system. The British banks have once said that computer is a big help strategic organizational change (Edwards, 1994). The analogy of this claim may fall into two results. One is the benefit to the banking system in which the technology makes everything automated from establishing a bank account, deposit transaction, and even money withdrawals. Technology made these transactions faster. The other result is the risk. Bank transactions through technology could be easier and faster. However, fraudulent acts against one’s bank account can also be done using technology. That is why many people are now taking extra care when doing bank transactions over the Internet. Furthermore, technology enabled companies to become more profitable, as it enables them to increase their productivity and reduce their operating costs (Markgraf, 2014). However, this could be equal to unemployment due to increasing automation of many companies that empowers them to produce more products with fewer workers.

Technology features both benefits and drawbacks in the society. Since more and more people learn how to adapt the technological advancements, they also learn its risks and how to respond against them. The result of the studies shows that technology is an advantageous branch of knowledge that helps people’s lives become easier and faster, but must be observed as a medium for possible potential threats against the society.

References

Edwards, P. N. (1994). From Impact to Social Process: Computers in Society and Culture. In Handbook of Science and Technology Studies. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications.

Markgraf, B. (2014). The Benefits & Risks of Computer Technology in the Workplace | Science – Opposing Views. Retrieved July 24, 2014, from http://science.opposingviews.com/benefits-risks-computer-technology-workplace-1942.html

Thiebaud, J. R. (2010). Effects of technology on people. Proceedings of the Media Ecology Association, 11, 117-126.