The Technological Edge: There is not one aspect of our lives today that has not been influenced by advances in technology. Even the areas of personal communication, books and music are now at the whim of our technology. While these are all major changes, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, either.
The Technological Edge
Advances in Telephones
Personal communication devices have taken over the world. Back in the day, every home had a phone, and if there wasn’t anyone home, then you called back later. This evolved into having answering machines, so people could leave you a message, and you could get back to them later, if you wanted to. As the cell phone evolved, it went from a bulky thing that rarely worked to this all-encompassing gadget which not only allows you to talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, but also lets you check your Facebook page, search Google and read a book right from your convenient hand held device.
These great new phones provide you with a lot of great features, but you never have the excuse that you weren’t home, or you missed that call. There is no escape from communication, and the advancements in this area have been incredible.
Advances in Books
The first digital books were met with rejection, because they seemed so different. With all of the new electronic readers and their tablet accessories that they provide, electronic books are not only easier to read, but tremendously convenient as well.
No longer do people have to waste hours milling about in a book store to find the books you are looking for, you can simply search for it online, purchase it and download it to your digital reader. Once you are finished reading, you can simply place your book in your library on your cloud and read something else. It is very efficient and lends to a larger and quicker transfer of information. Not only do these great gadgets provide unlimited reading, they also allow you to watch movies, browse magazines, in full color and even listen to music.
Advances in Music
Music is the language of the soul, and in the world today, the soul has never had so much to say. With the advent of digital music, songs can be shared, used and produced at a record pace. Records were eventually replaced by cassette tapes, which were replaced by compact disks, finally leading us to the digital music products we have today.
The music industry has taken a hit on this one, because it is so easy to transfer the music from one device to another that piracy is often done by otherwise law abiding citizens. While the music industry gladly took money whenever you had to replace your records with cassettes or your cassettes with compact disks, it is difficult to feel sorry for them today as they decry the effects of technology. Much like books, there has never been as wide an access to music as there is today, and culturally, that cannot be a bad thing.
Conclusion
Technology has certainly changed the way we communicate, read and listen to music, and even though some are nostalgic and long for the devices of yesterday, it can’t be denied that our world is a better place with a greater access to these types of technology.