A Thought About Our Lives

Today we were told of the 'exciting' developments at our workplace.  We are exploring the possibilities of doing video conferencing in school and networking with other organisations.  As much I wonder in awe of the development of technology today and how it has allowed us to know more about our world, I also question how it has complicated our lives.

Do you remember the last time you went out without a single piece of technology on you?  Almost everyone has a mobile phone these days and it is even considered old fashion to have a phone that only allows you to make phone calls and sending smses.  The salesperson told me that to have a camera in the phone is a basic feature these days.

Are we busier these days because of the things we have?  Are we under more pressure as well as we are now more contactable and therefore can be "reachable" whenever some work matters arise.  Do you recall the last time you forgot to reply your email and someone got terribly cross with you?

We have become less patient these days.  Everything must be prompt, everyone must be reachable (even when you are on holiday) and every query must be answered immediately.  Whatever happened to snail mail?  The pleasure and excitement when one received a snail mail is nothing compared to an email or for that matter a sms.  This is because it represents the sender's sincerity and the effort put into the writing especially the sending involves more than just clicking onto the SEND button.

I recall reading in an article before about how important it is for us not to be attached to things we have.  It is with much dismal to see that we are very attached to the technology we are having in our lives.  People feel lost when they cannot access their emails, people feel uneasy when they forget to take their mobile phones with them that day.  Perhaps an occasional blackout is good.  It will remind us that the basic things in life can be enjoyable too.