(Representative image)Technology today is an integral part of everyday life. Rapid advancements in the field has increased the pace of life,effectively coordinating reality with imagination. In other words we virtually move with our thoughts and as we look ahead, today's technology becomes out dated tomorrow.
Technological innovations have ensured maximum customer satisfaction in a demanding market environment. Rapid changes in marketing strategies through technological innovations have caused traditional markets to face business crisis as their overheads exceed income. High rentals have to be compensated by them through unrealistic pricing. Consumers today prefer to shop from home. Online shopping and modern concepts of accessing bank accounts, railway, air, bus and even movie bookings have long since overtaken human intervention.
The move today is towards paperless functioning and reduction of cash transactions for cutting of costs, preventing tax evasion and ensuring financial safety. Public examinations for schools, universities and even job offers are conducted and evaluated.online with early announcement of results. Public and private departments, financial institutions and business enterprises have turned tech-savvy. Even security forces, intelligence agencies and the local police access computers for investigations and idata processing.
However, while all the above technological achievements deserve accolades and reflect on our scientific capabilities, we forget the loss of human touch. How often do we socially interact? A generation ago people met to exchange pleasantries and share views. Life moved at a slower pace but more qualitatively. Today, people meet and chat over the internet with total strangers whom they are never likely to meet in person. Family interactions, as had been known earlier, are no longer in vogue at the traditional dining room at home but characterised by distant correspondence across the globe with visitors proving to be more of a nuisance than a welcome presence under such circumstances.
The mobile phone in the pocket today is as important as the shirt on the body. In the absence of the mobile phone, life appears insecure. They are not mere instruments for conversation but also gadgets for photography, taping of conversation and storage of information both at home and office. This may also be an intrusion of privacy and a hindrance to exchange of confidential information whether at home or office. It may also prove to be a security hazard. Some institutions today prohibit the use of mobile phones within their premises for such reasons.The loss of or misplacement of a mobile phone creates a panic which was absent yesterday when the brain took care of storage of memory and timely delivery of output without SIM cards!
Technology has, thus, combined innovation with tension. A Debit or Credit card may prove handy for a commercial transaction but careless handling may work to the detriment of the card holder. Expert hackers may read through the magnetic strip of your ATM card or even in the case of lesser mortals misuse a recorded or disclosed PIN.
The loss of a credit card may pose even greater problems for the card holder.as unlimited transactions are put through on a lost card by fraudsters. A failure to close the transaction may also leak out information at an ATM outlet to the detriment of the account holder. Technology works both ways as intelligent criminals circumvent loopholes in safety of transaction which necessitates technologists to continuously stay on their toes. Today Invigilators at school, college and Board examinations also have to prevent use of electronic gadgets for unfair means.
I however do not wish to be called a pessimist but am only being realistic. Technological development and innovation are welcome to modern society but there are always two sides to a coin.Roads may be broad but there may be a pothole at some point. Traffic may be smooth but accidents do take place. So please permit me to listen to the music on my mobile for some time and mentally relax before I attend to it.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in My News are solely those of the author in his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of Onmanorama or any other entity of the Malayala Manorama
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