Technology. We rely on it so much to get us through our daily lives that we never stop to think about it.
As soon as the alarm on our smartphones goes off to wake us in the morning, we stick the kettle on to make the cup of coffee that will really wake us up. Then use the phone to check what we missed overnight on Facebook or Twitter. Forgot to pick up a copy of the daily paper on the way to college? Sure we have it on an app these days. Spend lectures advancing through Candy Crush or, on the off chance we pay attention, take notes on the laptop because writing gives “a woeful cramp in my wrist”.
Come home, telly is turned on and stays that way for the night. Repeat ad nauseam.
We all know there are times when, to put it bluntly, we need technology to survive. We have never been happier when stranded in town to discover a full phone battery and a healthy credit balance. Just push a few buttons and someone can come and collect you within minutes. Now to fiddle around with the phone until the taxi arrives.
Reading is becoming less frequent, something we only ever contemplate doing if there’s a power cut and we can’t charge our phones/tablets to entertain us for a few hours.
It’s no secret that technology has advanced more than the previous generation thought possible. Do we ever stop to think how different it was for our parents? The generation who couldn’t bombard the lads with texts to check their whereabouts every five minutes, but actually had to ring the house phone and suffer through the fear of their Mam picking up instead. Having to slave through the same endless essays we have to face with the added pressure of not only writing them by hand, but counting each word manually.
Yes, we have it easier but at the same time it was a much simpler then to find space to escape.
Aoife Bennett
Leave a Reply