The Curse of Technology - Part 1

Let me start by saying that technology is a great thing. Just look around and you can see the advances that have been made possible through technology. I'm willing to bet that every one of you have at least 2 technological devices with you right now (one being the computer, tablet, or phone with which you are reading this blog). And while there are many wonderful things that have come from technological advances, technology has its dark side...

What do I mean? Glad you asked! How about email? What a great invention! But, is it responsible for starting the slide into darkness? Let's see... We can send "letters" in the blink of an eye! But how this has warped our expectations! Remember back to when email was new? It was for business communications and turning in college coursework. If you wanted to make plans with someone, you picked up the phone and called them. But as email evolved (thank you hotmail, yahoo, et al) it started moving in on the territories of the phone and the postal service. As more people set up email accounts, it became possible to send letters via email rather than snail mail. You could compose a letter and have it arrive to the recipient within minutes though you would probably wait at least a week to hear back from that person as email was fairly new and they didn't really check it more than once a week or so. But that was faster than mailing a letter and less expensive than a long distance call. And I can remember when I would ask a friend for an email address and they would respond with "Oh, I don't do email". WHAT???!!!!?? What do you mean you don't do email? (Said in the incredulous tone of the aunt in My Big Fat Greek Wedding).

So when did email begin to change our expectations? For most of us, it was probably when we got our first job that included an email account set up on our computer. There was email, 8+ hours a day, just a mouse click away! And as we began to use email more, we began to expect quicker responses from co-workers, clients, friends. Same day wasn't good enough anymore. We had sent the email, we knew they had received the email, why weren't they responding to the email? Like, now! Email came to be seen as "instant" communication even before phone based text messaging existed.

So is email to blame for the downward spiral? Stay tuned...