I was born in 1998 and I remember that every year my parents used to get something new to the house. Whether it was a TV, a new mobile, a brand new computer, and etc.. Fast forward to 2020, I realized how much technology has been progressing in this short amount of time. For example, chalkboards were invented in 1801 and they were used more than 160 years until the smart board came and took over the market. It took 160 years to make this progression whereas nowadays every year new or emulated products become the new thing. Technology has impacted everyone but this is my own timeline and how the digital world made my life easier and harder.
It was the year 2003 when something very amusing came out. I was only 5 years old but I was fully aware that technology was skyrocketing. I lived in America so any new technological advancements would first be implemented over there unlike Lebanon 🙂 . I remember I was the first kid in school who got this new digital game that shaped the future of gaming. It was the Game Boy Advance SP (I lost it the first day, but I got a knew one). I used to play 6 hours a day and ennui was never in my dictionary.
Did you know : “The first computer was almost 2.5 meters high and weighed nearly 30,000kg”. I truly believed at first, that computer were still weighing that much until I saw the modern computer.The more I got older the more I used to notice my father working his accounting numbers with a pencil and paper. And I wondered how could his life be much easier? I don’t want to lie but I am a very lazy person and I don’t want to imitate my fathers work. Ostensibly, my uncle had bought this new computer (not the 30,000kg) which could do all the writing but not literally. I used to go to my uncles house and do my reports for school through typing. It was much more faster, efficient, and effective. It really developed my writing skills through word document and presented wonder presentations through powerpoint. I was pretty glad that I was born in this era because everything was much more convenient and flagrant unlike the old days. Nowadays, I do not see technology the way I used to see it before and I will get into the why in a bit. (More fun technological facts available here https://globallead.co.za/2018/02/22/20-fun-facts-technology).
Mobiles were gaining popularity very fast because it was simply a hard device in your pocket. A hard device were you could access anything, anytime, and anywhere. It was 2011 when I bought my first phone. It was the brand new Samsung S2. However, I did not care much about the phone but more of what was inside it, by that I mean applications. They were the most compelling things in the device. It was something very innovative and which made us teenagers very comfortable.
Joining the first social media community which was facebook was just outstanding. With just one press, a connection would be cultivated with friends and anonymous people. After that, I started using instagram, snapchat, youtube and WhatsApp. All of these apps helped me in sharing my voice, pictures, and opinions. Google and Bing were very useful as they helped me through my research and studies. For example, I was doing a project this summer and I wanted to talk to a specific restaurant. In the old days, it was much more difficult to get a restaurants number or check his image but today with one click you’ll get whatever you need.
Technology is advancing and flourishing every year. But personally for the past 2 years I came to an understanding that social media apps are a waste of time. For example, if i read a book for just 1 hour I would have substantially improved and increased my knowledge than to sit on social media apps for hours. Another thing that was plaguing me with social media apps, is the fact of the reduction of face to face communications with other people and the misunderstanding of thoughts. That is why for the past 2 years I have reduced my interaction with technology to 2 hours only per day. I would only use WhatsApp for business purposes only. It is right, technology has made our life easier, but at the same time ominous things are impending. For example, Robots replacing People!
I don’t really know much about how computing and humanities intersect together. Neither do i have the knowledge about it. However, I have the zeal and zest to learn about it!
Issa's Blog 