How Technology is changing our online life Essay

It is hard to imagine life without email nowadays. The only efficient means of communication, with efficient meaning that the message is delivered within seconds, is either through the cellular phone or through email via the internet. It is even more impossible to imagine how people could work under circumstances that denied them access to the latest communication technologies or even technology at all. Yet somehow, there was really a time when people where not at the beck and call of their cellular phones and a time when nobody really felt the urge to keep checking the mailbox every five minutes for fear of missing an email. There was a time when people actually drove to the store or entered a store and talked with the attendants before buying something. Ordering shoes and bags or other electronic items was done by going to a shop and not by going online and surfing online as it is done today. Friends and lovers were met and made by going to social functions and parties instead of by checking out somebody’s myspace profile or advertising on online personals. While those practices are still being done by certain individuals, the growth of the internet and the wide array of services that it offers have dramatically altered the manner by which people interact with one another and also the manner by which individuals lead their daily lives. The convenience and accessibility that the internet offers makes it an ideal replacement for all the previous time and energy consuming endeavors. With the number of people who are connected to the internet growing everyday, it is but a natural consequence that more and more services are being offered online ranging from dating, shopping, research and entertainment. In understanding how this newfound online lifestyle has changed our lives, it is important to understand the lures that are online that make it such a tempting alternative to doing this the time consuming and energy expending tasks. The internet provides everything online. Everything a person can desire or want is available online. Romance can be found through chatting or through online personals while intrigue can also be found on popular blog spots. Food is readily available for order online and so are clothes and other items. In short, there is nothing that cannot be found online and all a person needs to do is point and click. This is the lure of the online life and this is the reason why more and more people are leading the online life. It is convenient. It is time saving. It does not require one to expend a lot of energy. In certain cases, it also allows a person to work more efficiently and become more productive. From the standpoint of privacy, the internet offers virtual anonymity to anybody who goes online. All of this is offered online thanks to the great improvements in electronic and communications technology. As the developments in the electronics and communications technology continues to improve and advance, it will no longer be far off to imagine a world where nobody is walking the streets and everyone is hooked up to their computers interacting with each other in a world where they can be their own gods and dictate their own destinies without even breaking a sweat. Instead of just seeing an image of another person online, it may actually be possible to experience the sensation of feeling and touching that person. This all may just be future talk but one thing is certain. Today’s society has become so dependent on the benefits that technology has brought in making online life possible that we have come to a point of no return where we can no longer imagine life without it. If you think otherwise, turn off your cellular phone and unhook the jack of your computer and see how long you can survive without it.