Friday 5 December 2014

IS TECHNOLOGY REALLY SO BAD?


Hi lovelies! We're going to be having a bit of a chat today, so the beauty, fashion and festive rambles are going to be put on hold for a while for today, I hope you don't mind! Today, I wanted to talk to you all about something, because I think it'd be really interesting to get your thoughts on it.


When I was younger, my sister and I used to have a best friend who lived next door, the houses weren't attached, but we had windows that faced each other in both of our hallways upstairs. We used to write to each other on whiteboards, in huge letters, so that it was actually visible. We'd arrange at school to 'go to the window' at about 7pm for a chat and without fail, except one time for Shelly's wedding in Eastenders, obvs, we'd do this every single night. Then he moved away, suddenly our nightly window chats had to stop and we'd have to talk on the phone when we didn't see eachother at school and we'd have to hang up and redial when it got to an hour, as our landlines were only free for an hour. We didn't have mobile phones, Facebook or even msn back then, so those phone calls were our only way of communicating when we wanted to talk. At this point we were in different schools (he was a year older than Hannah and I!) and it was awful for us all to go from speaking to someone every single day, to being lucky to have a phone call once a week.

Going even further back, I used to have a friend in Primary School who was from America and one day, she told us she was going back. Her family were moving back out there and we were all so upset! We used to write letters back and forth, which would take days and weeks to get to one another, Christmas cards were late, birthdays were missed and a lot of our parents money was spent on international postage! We'd get disposable cameras to send photos of us and our friends, then you'd have to take them, wait for them to be developed (often to find your finger was over the lense in half of them!) and then finally pop them in an envelope in the hopes they'd reach the US safe and sound! Every now and then we'd get to email, which was super exciting, as you could send a message and it would get to her right away! At the time this was the most fascinating thing ever. However, the internet required dial up broadband, which meant if Mum was on the phone, no emails! And as we were too young to have our own email address, it was Dads email account and if he wasn't home, we had no chance!

Fast forward to today, I have both of these friends on Facebook and can get in touch with them at the touch of a button (or a few keys to be precise!). If I want to meet up with a friend, I can send them a quick text or whatsapp message and they can get back to me in a few seconds. I regularly email my grandparents when I can't get there to see them and can take photos whenever and wherever I like on my phone, only to be able to share them a few minutes later (after choosing the perfect filter of course), with whoever I like. Just a couple of days ago, a few friends and I were arranging a Christmas night out and we decided to do a secret santa, the problem was we couldn't all get together before the night out to draw names but guess what? There's an app for that! 

The point I'm trying to make is that technology isn't all bad. Sure we say it can make people unsociable, it can 'take over our lives' and we're living through instagram rather than in the moment, but is that so bad? Isn't it amazing that we can take a picture of anything and everything we want (not anything we want, don't be weird), to share with our friends and family? Isn't it incredible that even if our loved ones are thousands of miles away, we can talk to them and see them every single day if we want to through Facebook, Skype, whatsapp etc, without expensive phone bills? Isn't it amazing that we can look back on tweets and photos of little moments that we may otherwise have forgotten?

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that yes, we should cherish each moment with friends and family particularly at Christmas time, but if we can capture those little moments with the help of modern technology, then isn't that a good thing?


What do you think? Do you have a technology ban at Christmas time or do you like to capture your festive memories with the help of your phone?


Let me know!


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1 comment:

  1. I've never had the experience of exchanging letters with someone. I remember when I was little we wouldn't spend as much time with phones or computers as much as I see those little ones do now but maybe the world is changing and things change with it. I'm very thankful for technology since it allowed me to get in touch with friends from far away and learn a lot of new things. Without technology blogging was impossible so I guess it's pretty clear we all take something good from this. Lovely post :) xx

    Mary Bloomy

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