The release of the new iPhone 5s got me thinking about how much technology - specifically Apple - has affected not only my life, but the lives of almost everyone in the US. I read Carolyn DeLarm's blog post about how everyone seems to be craving the new iPhones, and I totally agree. Our country has welcomed Apple technology into its everyday life: print newspapers are being replaced by online newspapers, schools like New Trier are using iPads in class to help the students learn, and texting or iMessaging seems like the most used form of communication. To me, we seem to rely on it more than we should.
Every year, Interbrand, a brand consultancy, makes a chart of the top 100 most valuable brands based on criteria such as how much money they made and how quickly they're expanding. Last year, Apple was ranked number 2 on that list under Coco-Cola. This year, Apple trumped all and became the most valuable company followed by Google, then by Coco-Cola. In fact, out of the top 10 brands, 5 of them were technology companies: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and Intel.
This did not surprise me because I have an iPhone and I basically rely on it. I use it for virtually everything from getting directions to looking up definitions and I feel naked if I am missing it for even one day. Although there are some obvious benefits of having readily available technology in our personal lives (I'm not talking about technology used for powering cars or launching rockets), I think the effects of it are bad for the most part because we feel the need to spend so much time staring at a screen; it's entertaining, convenient, and informative. Spending so much time on the internet makes people much lazier, weakens our real-life social skills, and distracts us. A boy in my Latin class spends the whole period every day playing games on his iPad. His iPad has become such a distraction that he thinks it is more important to play his games and entertain himself than it is to learn.
My mom always reminds me that the best moments of my life are not going to happen over text or on the internet. I think personal technology has its benefits, but people need to understand that they shouldn't spend so much time using it.
This did not surprise me because I have an iPhone and I basically rely on it. I use it for virtually everything from getting directions to looking up definitions and I feel naked if I am missing it for even one day. Although there are some obvious benefits of having readily available technology in our personal lives (I'm not talking about technology used for powering cars or launching rockets), I think the effects of it are bad for the most part because we feel the need to spend so much time staring at a screen; it's entertaining, convenient, and informative. Spending so much time on the internet makes people much lazier, weakens our real-life social skills, and distracts us. A boy in my Latin class spends the whole period every day playing games on his iPad. His iPad has become such a distraction that he thinks it is more important to play his games and entertain himself than it is to learn.
My mom always reminds me that the best moments of my life are not going to happen over text or on the internet. I think personal technology has its benefits, but people need to understand that they shouldn't spend so much time using it.
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