A Word on Technology

One of my favorite cartoons has always been The Jetsons with their out-of-this world (literally) contraptions: cars that fly and fold up instead of parking (oh how I wish this was a reality!), alarm clocks that talk to you, robots that serve as caregivers… The things they could do seemed so outlandish I never expected any of it to become real. Now I’m beginning to wonder.  

This Christmas my parents surprised me with an iPhone. In my journalism classes I’ve seen a lot of iPhones, and we even talk about different applications in class. I knew I needed to learn more about these smartphone capabilities, but it was all so confusing to me, as I’d never operated one myself. I mentioned this to my parents a while back, but never expected them to act on the thought.

This morning as I was exploring some of the apps, I found a compass, weather forecast, Google maps… The list was endless. Sure there were games, but these tools fascinated me. As I held a fully functional compass in my hand, my mind was blown away! I know that must sound awful since I’m technically part of this ‘technology age,’ but I feel pretty lost compared to my classmates. I find it incredibly awesome that these things are at my fingertips (so long as the phone stays charged, which seems like it might be an issue).

Maybe I won’t have a robotic maid that can give me advice, clean the house and prepare dinner for my family, but the technology that is coming into existence rivals the thoughts of the creators of The Jetsons. 

I think with this technology we need to be careful not to become too reliant on it (such as not knowing how to read a paper map because we always have Google map), but we can use it to our advantage to be more accurate and reliable in our work. I’ve already looked at a few of the agricultural apps, which make me VERY excited, and I hope to create a list of them and their purposes soon. They may not be 100% realistic for widespread use at this point, but I do believe we have an excellent window of opportunity in this field.

The big question is, what will they come up with next? I’m excited to find out!