Has technology actually made our lives better?

Here is a thought for you – has all this technology we take for granted actually made our lives better? I would expect the answer from most people to be ‘hell yeh” but what about the people who just “don’t get technology” or even the ones who have to clean up the mess this technology actually makes in the first place.  Let me explain.

Batteries.  Everyone uses them to power gadgets (myself included) but does everyone know about the destruction caused by mining the nickel that goes into making them.  I went on a motorcycle trip to Russia back in 2008 and while checking out Lonely Planet I came across a place called Nikel on the Kola Peninsula right on the Norwegian border.  I decided to go along and take a look. The photo below is what greated me.

Everywhere you looked it was black.  There is no living vegetation within a 50 mile radius of the town and everything within the town is covered in soot (and I do mean everything).  Now I know that mining creates jobs but would you really want to live in a place like this?

Lets now take computer parts.  Once we have finished with our ‘old’ computers we recycle them in the local tip.  They usually get sent off to places in China and south east Asia where people sift through them for reusable parts. A typical scene is shown below.

Would you like your children working like this? Do you think that their standard of life is better?

Closer to home we have pensioners or the so called ‘silver surfers’.  Many older people don’t like using computers because it is so different to what they are used too. While many end up using them they the find that the ‘old’ way of doing things just worked.  A lot even shun using them altogether because they find it too hard to learn.  They then feel excluded from society because they don’t tweet, use facebook  or even use email.

So next time you turn on that new gadget take a minute to think – is this actually making making peoples lives better?

About the Author

Hi I am Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows and Linux based IT Support, laptop repairs and computer repairs to both business and personal clients in and around Stirling.

For a list of what I can offer you why not visit my website www.comtech247.net where you will find a list of my services, testimonials, blog and much more