Today’s Technology: Distracting or Useful?

New technologies are being introduced every day. Students multi-task more than ever before, watching movies on Netflix while working on essays, Facebooking while studying for tests, etc. As recently as six or seven years ago, cell phones were mainly used just to make phone calls or text. Nowadays, almost everyone I see, including me, has a smart phone, handheld devices that not only make calls and send texts, but allow mobile access to Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, countless apps, and, my personal favorite, YouTube.

In many cases, having a smart phone is really useful, like when I need to send an email ASAP and I don’t have access to a computer. In less than five minutes, I can find the email address of the person I need to contact on the Internet, type up my message, and send it, all from the palm of my hand. However, nothing comes without its disadvantages, and the smart phone is no different. In this case, however, the disadvantages are mostly my own fault, the consumer, and my random mind that is always jumping from one topic to another.  In fact, just yesterday I had to force myself to study for a test before giving into the temptation of pulling out my phone and watching the latest episode of one of my favorite shows while waiting for my next class to start.

While it’s true that today’s technology can be distracting just as much as it can be useful, ultimately it’s up to the consumer to know how to use the technology properly. With everything imaginable available on the Internet these days, we as consumers are going to have to learn to control ourselves and make sure we know how to get the best use out of the technology without letting it distract us.

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