Wi-Fi Changed the World

Wi-Fi is the most significant technological advancement of my generation. I am a 31-year-old who remembers being stuck on the dial-up internet craze wondering if it would ever allow me to log on. Remember picking up the phone and hearing the zings and zaps of the internet instead of a dial tone? Sweet memories. It feels like a huge crutch to go anywhere that does not have Wi-Fi, am I right? As a society, we are more connected than ever. No, not to each other, but to the internet. We are plugged in. Unplugging is not an option.

If you gain an entry level job out of college and express to your boss that you do not have an email account, how do you think they will react? It is a fact that everyone must be well versed in digital technology in order to be marketable as an employee. Consider this, “Around 40% of the world population has an internet connection today. In 1995, it was less than 1%. The number of internet users has increased tenfold from 1999 to 2013. The first billion was reached in 2005. The second billion in 2010. The third billion in 2014” (Internet Live Stats, 2016). The increase in connectivity suggests the trend of being digital technology savvy is not going to waver. There is such a generation known as the Wi-Fi generation. An entire age group that knows no differently than being connected, whether by smartphone, iPhone, PlayStation (or other gaming device), even infant video monitors. Want a visual? Check out this live tally of people on the internet right now! 

The ways in which Wi-Fi affects our world are amazing. Wi-Fi has allowed for healthcare aid, environmental aid, advancements in news reporting and entertainment, even education has been affected. “A math teacher instructing her students about parallel and perpendicular lines had them use their cell phone cameras to photograph items in their everyday lives that illustrate such lines, then email the photos in for display. A physics instructor teaching about astronomy had his students use apps on their smartphones to map the night sky. Schools that once had to seek grants for funding to bring the Internet into their classrooms now have students carrying broadband Internet with them in their pockets” (Joseph, 2016). Wi-Fi opened up possibilities. The world will never be the same.

References

(2016). Internet Live Stats. Retrieved from http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/

Joseph, C. (2016). How Wireless Communication Changed the World. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/wireless-communication-changed-world-33596.html

The "Smart" Transition

Advanced technology makes society crave instant gratification. Email, texts, messaging apps, live streaming, all of these and more are results of advancements in technology. Everyone owns a smartphone, with many instantly gratifying activities at their fingertips. But what if there could be more? What about smart appliances? A smart home?

“A full 17% of U.S. broadband households intend to buy a smart kitchen appliance by end of 2016, according to Parks Associates” (Morris, 2016). We are talking dishwashers, refrigerators, cooking appliances, it’s remarkable. Could it be? Are we no longer satisfied with having a fridge with the singular purpose of keeping our foods from spoiling? Now we have to be able to surf the web, watch television, and who knows what else. These appliances are dictating where we are headed as a society. It is changing, we are becoming connected. It isn’t always a bad thing either. Consider this TED Talk. This TED talk brings up many valid points. When is it too much? When are we too connected? The one thing we can agree on is that it will change our lives.

References

Morris, C. (January 6, 2016). Ordinary Home Appliances Are About to Get Really Sexy. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2016/01/06/home-appliances-ces-2016/

Social Media Influences Perception

Mass media is really altering the perception of reality. Society today will flow with the masses according to what they are watching on the internet. The invention of the internet, in its mass expansion that can reach almost anyone in the world, has opened the world to its users. There are a million reasons why this is an amazing feat, along with a million negatives.

Perception is defined as a “Way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.” (Webster, 2016). The mental impression the internet leaves on society is important to note when opinions are formed as a whole on a particular person or culture. Certainly, everyone has heard the campaigns for #blacklivesmatter and #bluelivesmatter. There have been a large number of violent attacks on these two group of people. Would we have seen actual video footage of these incidents had it not been for the internet? Likely not. What is alarming is the immediate opinion formed by the sharer of those videos. Not that they are right or wrong, but there is no room for a conflicting opinion. Within the black lives matter site, you can see there is an actual organization behind the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. The internet is responsible for allowing a group of people to gather and fight for their rights. Something that would have proven much more difficult without the ease of communication through the internet. The negative side is, of course, opposing views. Those that do not fear to express hate because they are behind a computer. This is the altered reality caused by social media.

At the hands of the masses, everyone is striving to have a “perfect” perception of their social media selves. “As we know, perception is everything; especially in the world of social media. In terms of perception, we all have an ideal self. We all wish to maximize our careers, our profession, and aspire to be like those who we find most successful. As the use of social media continues to evolve; the concept of presenting our ideal selves versus our real selves has become more and more prevalent on social media” (Green, 2013). Technology is amazing. It allows simplification of daily tasks. Technology that allows humans to see each other constantly, even people we don’t know? Well, that was bound to cause the influx of silliness seen on social media today.

References

Perception [def. 3]. (n.d.). in Merriman-Webster Online retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=perception+definition&oq=perception+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.3237j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Green, K. (August 7, 2013). The Social Media Effect: Are You Really Who You Portray Online?. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/the-social-media-effect-a_b_3721029.html