"No, don't get up. I'll IM Sarah to bring it here."

In what ways would you say technology has made your day to day life easier? (for example, texting instead of shouting someone, ordering food online instead of calling, etc)
Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?
What tasks would you want technology to help you with?

Technology is making a lot of people incredibly lazy, I've found. Why am I getting phone calls and text messages from people who're occupying the same house as me? Can they not just walk up the stairs, knock on the door and speak to me? On the subject of phones in particular, my girlfriend and I noticed whilst we were out for a meal last night that every single occupant that we could see from where we were sat had their mobile phone either in their hand or out on the table. We saw couples sat opposite each other with their eyes locked on Facebook, it's sad really. Take a walk into town centre, and you'll see hundreds of people with their ear against a mobile phone. Before they were invented, I'd be willing to bet that you didn't see just as many people forming a line to the nearest phone booth! Sheesh, it's a getting just a little out of hand in my opinion.

In this instance, it's not the technology that's the problem, it's the people using it. For more or less 99% of technology, it'll be exactly the same. Any technological development is probably going to be useful. It's just a bit disheartening when people can't detach themselves from it. You don't go out to visit your friends, only to have their gaze permanently locked upon a screen. No, you go out to see them to spend quality time with them. Bah, humbug! :: Ends Rant ::

Sorry for the ramble! Thinking about it, there aren't any tasks that I'd like to see new technology developed for. O.o I am having a really hard think, but nadda! I guess that I'm not going to be a renowned inventor any time soon. Ah well!

Trainer Matt said:

Take a walk into town centre, and you'll see hundreds of people with their ear against a mobile phone. Before they were invented, I'd be willing to bet that you didn't see just as many people forming a line to the nearest phone booth! Sheesh, it's a getting just a little out of hand in my opinion.

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What's the problem with more people talking on the phone as they walk? If I wasn't talking on the phone, then it's not like I would be socializing with the complete strangers I see. I can understand it might be annoying to hear people talking like that (it's actually been studied and shown that it's more annoying to hear half of a conversation than both sides) but I don't see how this backs up your premise of laziness at all.

Technology has made my life easier in lots of ways, the most notable being communication. My boyfriend went abroad for a semester last year, and we couldn't talk on the phone or text because of charges abroad. But we could Skype, and we did that plenty, to be near each other and be closer despite the distance. Without technology, we would probably have not remained together, because the distance would be too difficult to handle.

That particular point wasn't aimed at backing up that gripe. It's pretty late, so I'd not be surprised if my messages were starting to make less and less sense! They're two different things that bother me. The lazyness factor ties into Hybrid Trainer's original post, and I provided my own example. I have my own family members messaging or calling me when they're a flight of stairs away. There're other examples, that one just seemed like one of the most extreme for that particular point.

As for people taking their mobile phones with them down town, that's not what I really have a problem with. It's instances like the restaurant example. People are practically glued to them to the point where it's unhealthy in some cases. Many peeps that I know treat their phone as if it's another limb. The majority of students in the classroom at college? Sat on Facebook via their phone all lesson. In most cases, the people constantly playing around with their phone are not actually sending text messages or making phone calls, they're using social networks. There's nothing wrong with that, but do you really need to be connected to the internet for your every waking moment?

I'm still in agreement that technology is a wonderful thing. Like your example with Skype, I've been in very similar situations. I'm just tired of a lot of people who refuse to put their phones away for so much as a split second, even when you've gone out of your way to visit/spend time with them. You arrange to see a person on a weekly basis, why're they spending that time looking at their phone and nothing else? Saying "Could you please put that away." or "Clearly, you want to be somewhere else right now." earns you nothing but a "That's not true!". I've now rambled to the point that I don't have the energy to backtrack and ensure that my message makes sense!

Summary: Technology is excellent! I do not like people who can't separate themselves from their mobile phones.

Dang it, I thought of another instance. When I went to see the Dark Knight Rises, I had a chap in front of me using his phone to tweet that he was in the cinema watching the film. I've had plenty of cinema experiences now where several members of the audience refuse to switch their phones off. So we just wind up with lots of irritating lights darted across our vision. Again, technology = Excellent, useful, fantastic! People = Need to tone down usage a notch!

I want technology to help me get Justin Bieber, that's right.

I think technology has its good sides, and bad sides. Good sides, because it's made life sixteen times better and more convenient. Bad sides, because staying in front of the computer for twelve hours can damage your eyesight. Technology is great when used wisely.

Haha, in the examples provided, those are perfect reasons to prevent me from shouting xD

I've Facetime'd with both of my parents despite each of us being in the house simultaneously, but that's to limit the shouting :P

Also, I love it how Apple has iMessage.. I can text my parents via my iPod Touch to their iPhones at no charge to the cell provider and its another easy method of communication

Technology has made life much easier. For example I do buy food and some other things online because I cannot always get up and go to a store, so it's the only way for me to get some things. I communicate mostly through text and the internet because I'm not always face to face with people. For reasons like these, people need technology. I love Skype because it allows me to communicate with friends that dont live near me, at the same time I dont think people need to tweet every single thing they are doing and every thought in their head and remain glued to computers and phones all day.Technology is useful but there are other important things in life.

Technology is to save us time, something that might seem endless, but it could end at anytime for you.

And anyway, its ability to communicate instantly to people around the world is amazing.

I honestly don't know how people did my job without the internet. Well, that's obviously not true... I know how they did it, but I'm so reliant upon the internet that I don't know how I would have done it being in their position. A lot of what I do involves legal research, and so much of that is typing stuff into search engines and filtering through the results. Without that instant access to so much information, everything would just take so much longer to accomplish, and the most menial of tasks would be elongated as I went to the library to find the relevant page from the relevant book and whatnot.

Technology eased our lives by streamlining the communication process. I'm able to receive instant feedback from professors and colleagues through email, IMs, or texting. I'm able to chat with anyone with a connection. I'm able to amend my daily plans by sending a quick text to mom saying I need to stay late after school. I'm able to look up and read the details of any product I want before I purchase it. I'm able to investigate or challenge any 'fact' someone claims because a lot of information is right at my finger tips. I'm able to express myself through different mediums, as well as simply watching new YouTube videos or finding new songs. In essence, technology, especially the internet, has provided us with ample innovation, collaboration, freedom, scrutiny, and entertainment.

Therefore, I find it fitting that my generation (born 1977-97) is called the Always On generation. We spend many hours a day staring at screens-TVs, computers, cell phones-and communicating online. What luck, I was born and raised around booming technology. Companies and businesses have caught on, surely. I cannot imagine doing budgets and financial statements the old school way, hah.

However, the very act of using technologies such as email and texting has impaired, at least my, social skills. While convenient, online communication is just not as rich as face-to-face communication. To gain from using technology's benefits and develop good communication skills, one must simply balance the two. I find it very difficult to do, being born in a generation where a majority of us sleep with our cell phones next to our bed. I'm not totally lazy, yet. I still yell across the room and pick up food by car or by phone.

What I'd like technology to do new for me is... (gosh, what more can TVs/PCs/phones do since they all have apps now anddd we have a car that drives itself!). Oh, I would this to see some decent learning/teaching software! How many dollars do I have to waste paying for CDs/codes only to struggle more with getting the programs to function seamlessly rather than getting to the studying part? I really do like the idea for e-books too. Do you know how expensive college textbooks are? What's the purpose of technology? To make something more time effective and/or more cost effective, I would hope. So, let tablets pick up some momentum, yeah. I'd like a tablet. Man.