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Changing With Times

In this electronic age, where technology is changing at such a tremendous speed, it seems impossible, sometimes, for one to catch up with technology. It is a sad but cold and hard fact - one gets displaced by technology if he or she cannot keep up with times. Look at how technology has dominated our lives, in the home, at the workplace, in the public sphere, in the private sphere, etc. It is indeed an irony that we as Creators of technology, in return, becomes dominated by our own creations. This may sound bad, but I must really admit that I'm a slave to technology. I cannot live without my mobile phone and computer, nor can I live without the domestic gadgetries that have made household chores not so much of a manual chore anymore but more of application know-how. See how convenient technology has made our lives, so much so that the Y2K was able to create such a stir all around the world. We were worried that the usual operations would not be able to function as normal, that our lives would be disrupted and inconvenienced, and even that the Y2K was going to spell the end of the world! All because of one 'bug' that we cannot even see.

    How scary all these sound, isn't it? But it wouldn't be as scary if we had not let technology dominate our lives, isn't it? Does this mean that we should do away with technology? No. On practical grounds, the answer is no. First of all, we are so accustomed to having technology in our lives that we would probably be disoriented or even 'die' without it. Secondly, there are no inherent problems with technology; it is how we use them that created problems. So why should we eradicate it? Why don't we work on the later and see how we can gain mastery of technology again? In order to get out of this predicament of being dominated, displaced and intimidated by technology, the only way out would be to keep up with times, through continuous improvement and upgrading. When we are able to keep up with times, and even, be ahead of times, that is when we can put technology to good and better use, and turn it into an advantage instead of being afraid of it.

    So go and work on how you can keep up with times and make yourself adaptable for changing situations in the workplace, the public sphere, even in the home or private domain. Here are some suggestions on how you can make positive changes to you lives:

  • Be IT savvy. Learn the necessary computer skills you would need for your job, and even better, pick up other skills that you foresee would be helpful (even though you might not need those now, but you never know).
  • Read, read, and read. Reading is the best way to gain knowledge, and with the Internet becoming more and more accessible to everyone, you have now even more reading materials to choose from. Use the search engines on the WWW to search form things that interest you, but one word of caution, do take things you read with a pinch of salt.
  • Attain seminars, talks, discussion forums, etc. Go listen to what the experts say regarding issues that may interest you. You gain new perspectives and ideas this way.
  • Catch up with friends, family and relatives. People are another great source of information. Your friends, family or relatives might be the ones who has been keeping up with times, and by talking to them, you will know what's happening too.
  • Pick up a new skill e.g. web page design. You never know when these might come in handy.