How ICT has changed my life!!

I'm currently sat in an ICT seminar and we've all been asked to write a blog on how ICT and technology has changed the way we go about our lives.


So, lets get down to business.....How has ICT/technology has changed my life?

I suppose the biggest change digital technology has made for me is email. It has made it so much easier to keep in touch with friends, especially when we all went our separate ways to go to uni. Snail mail takes so long these days that it is so much more convenient to quickly type up an email and send it (and with reciepts you know if it's arrived or not too!!). The last company I worked for relied so much on email that if there was ever a problem with our computers or the network everything just screeched to a halt!!



I had better give Facebook a mention! I probably wouldn't keep in touch with as many people if I didn't have Facebook. It has been a great way to get back in touch with friends from my childhood too. The only downside to facebook is that it is very easy to get a bit "obsessed"!! The event pages are great as it is much easier to organise activities with a lot of people via a single page.


Other than communication I really find it much easier to shop online than going into town. I guess the only down side is that you can't see if before you buy it, but generally the returns procedure is quite simple! It is really great for buying things that you wouldn't nessessarily find on the local high street for example websites like Not on the Highstreet and Etsy which have a range of weird and wonderful things you would never find at a shopping centre! http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/ and http://www.etsy.com/?ref=so_home


With regards to blogs, I have never really used them religiously before. I have read a few but this is the first one I have written. Cherry Menlove's blog is one of my favourites, it's great for cooking and craft ideas. http://www.cherrymenlove.com/


When it comes to university work, the internet has made it so much easier to do research and find sources of information. Rather than rummaging through hundreds of books in the library trying to find the one paragraph on the topic you're interested in, you can just stick a few words into Google and it's done!! Google is so popular that it has become a well used verb...to google!

This week I have probably used hundreds of different aspects of digital technology without really thinking about it: Email, iTunes, Google, Facebook, Online Shopping, Freeview TV, Mobile internet, YouTube....the list goes on. My favourite online facility is Google Calendars! My boyfriend and I both have separate calendars but can view each others as well by sharing them. This make it so much easier to plan events and to find each other! And now that we both have android phones...Google calendar is with us every second of the day!! Well Done Google! :)


Thinking about computers in general, we tend to get on OK but I find it extreamly frustrating when they have a mind of there own. My old laptop used to do some very odd things, without me even touching it half the time! Fortunately my new one seems to be better behaved but sometimes I do think that a pen and paper would be easier!


Other than the internet and computers, technology has made many day to day tasks much easier, quicker and, most of the time, more effective. For example, electric toothbrushes, solar powered calculators, television remotes and the more obvious, mobile phone and iPods. I don't remember the last day when I didn't use my mobile phone (...maybe at summer camp in the Lake District when there was no signal!). Technology has also made it more convenient to communicate and therefore I think more people tend to get in touch with each other these days. When I was at school, before mobiles and email were popular, I saw my friends but then on Friday, unless plans had been made, I wouldn't talk to them until the following Monday. It is however, a shame that people don't write letters anymore. I love getting post, but now it's mainly bills, junk or the odd postcard (its strange how people still send postcards!).


So, we've covered the fact that technology has made our lives easier, but I also think that it's made us much lazier too. From not having to go to Tesco to do food shopping, as we can now order online, to using escalators and lifts to get to the next floor, so we don't have to use the stairs. Technology has also made it very possible for us to never have to leave the house again!, and surely that is not a good thing.


I am sure that there are many other technological items and gadgets which I haven't mentioned here which impact on our lives massively but at the end of the day I really don't think you can ever replace the real thing....people will still read books even though kindles are available, people will still meet up with friends even though they have Skype and people will still write letter (even if it is just a postcard or a Christmas card) even though they have email.


Well I better get off to my next lecture!


Student Teacher