Can you imagine waking up and not checking your whatsapp messages, or playing music in the shower or opening your laptop to check your Facebook updates? Have you ever thought of a day where technology would be absent? How your life would be?
....Well I did, through the course of my TWC class in this weeks session of ICT and world change.
Without technology, life would still be possible just not as effective. As we began this weeks session, we immersed ourselves in the thoughts about technology. Our world, all around run by this simple, yet magical tool. We studied the past, present and future of technology. Right from the very first form of communication, which was word of mouth and drums to current day social networking giants like Facebook and Twitter. Life has changed rapidly, and this has only happened due to the rapid increase and constant development and improvement of technology.
On further discussion, we understood that technology changes from person to person. If you're a free thinker, the limits extend much further as you believe you are God yourself. You are a creator, and that helps you exceed all boundaries to make your invention work. How does religion limit technology?
This doesn't mean that if you are religious, you cannot create technology of your own. This only goes to say that people working within a religious framework are limited in their thinking and push only their thoughts through. This was a perspective offered to us by Prof. which I originally found quite flawed. However, on further thinking and pondering, I understood where he was coming from and completely agreed with him.
Technology has affected many different areas over the years. Below given is a short summary of tree of the areas we discussed, which I found most relevant and interesting.
1.) Mass Media: This was the type of media that reaches out to a large group of people, which began with drums and word of mouth (one to one) and moved on to interactive media such as Facebook (many to many). We also understood now that the next step for media would be a more interactive and invisible medium which controls everything.
2.) WEB: The invention of the world wide web in the 90's was perhaps one of the biggest steps for mankind. This "worldwide web" helped man connect over sees and oceans and access information from various sources. The web bridged the physical distance between people over different continents and connected many new relationships. Also used as the largest source of business through e-markitng and online shopping. The most talked about phenomena is now about moving from web 2.0 to 3.0, i.e. start thinking of futuristic approaches where devices will react with other devices.
3.) Social Networking: This involves connection of millions of networks around the world. The social networking sites are help expose real world networks and no longer leave them invisible. It is making the world a smaller place, and creating a more aware and integrated global community. Pages like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube not only provide entertainment and recreational activities, but also hemp spread awareness about a variety of important topics.
Apart from the other three, we also discussed about futuristic areas of technology such as cloud technology, interactive telecommunications, wireless technology, etc.
And just when we though Technology was the saving factor, Prof. asked us if there were any drawbacks. And most of us were stunned. As we all had never really thought about the disadvantages of technology. Through class discussion however, we started understanding a whole new side to technology. ICT is still limited in many fields. We fail to see the scope of ICT in so many fields. Why aren't we using ICT to alleviate poverty, or in healthcare, establishing e-learning help in democracies?
It is because the opportunity hasn't come up or that people are too ignorant. We must use ICT to create a borderless world.
From Hunters to Industrialists, we are now moving to a technological driven movement and the Knowledge Revolution. Once we are able to capture the full potential of ICT, we will be able to educate people, spread knowledge and enjoy many other benefits.
However, there are risks we may consider such as security concerns, invasion of privacy, identity theft and exposure to corrupting influences.
This class of TWC, was the closest we got to the name of the class :P We really did understand how technology does affect world change so powerfully and directly. We also understood the importance of moving towards an invisible and interactive world of technology which will act as a medium to solve all our problems.
I particularly enjoyed this weeks session and do hope we get the opportunity to discuss this topic in further depth. Also try and focus more on how technology can be used as a necessity instead of a luxury.
Ratings :9/10
Waiting for the Viral to hit again :)
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