Modern uses of Technology- Is IT A Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?

As I sit here at the Delta terminal at JFK, I’m amazed at how our consumer experience has changed drastically in the past 10 years…scratch that, 5 years! I’m connected to my Macbook wirelessly, using my Iphone as a hotspot for internet access, listening to music via a wireless headset, streaming Pandora to my favorite station, and getting text notifications from the airline on boarding times etc. I didn’t have to print my E-ticket, or my hotel or car rental confirmation, and I was able to even book my ride via Uber 5 full minutes before it arrived, with all payments handled electronically (including tip) and with no credit card swiping in the car! Uber even sent me his picture, the car he’ll be driving, and the exact time he’ll be arriving. After I arrived at the airport, I was able to go to a food bar, and without uttering a word, select my simple breakfast off of a tablet chained to the counter, with payment options intact, and I swear in less than 2 minutes the food order was placed in front of me. The tablet gave me options to get alerted to my flight updates on the display (so I don’t miss the boarding) and offered me a plethora of choices for entertainment, including reading options, NY Times, etc, or entertainment a la Facebook, Twitter, Candy Crush (who really plays that?) etc. Service and a smile. There were no surprises in this experience, it was exactly how I’d wanted it, and yet everything I never dreamed it would be, aka, easy. Ah….the half full view.

Yet in this day and age, there is such a big hype on security breaches and how social media is completely corrupting our society, turning all our human interactions into non-human interactions. There’s a constant scare about identities being lost, amounting to a ton of confusion and financial loss…anything from monies being stolen, to healthcare transactions mounting, and credit issues galore. Schools worry about students finding ways to steal tests, and cheating occurring via smart phones/watches, and who knows what else. Rarely do you see an individual, a couple, or a family sitting together without “it” disturbing them (the “it” of course is technology.) This disruption is at the restaurants, on the soccer fields, in the living room, and even in bed! It’s almost as if we feel we’re naked without it. And unable to interact one-on-one without it’s presence amongst us. Teens go out together and have to Snapchat about it to those they’re not with…pictures, messages, and anything that would broadcast what they’re doing and who with. Instead of an intimate experience, it becomes anything but, because of this need to constantly broadcast everything to everyone. It’s as if the 15 minutes of fame one was bound to have in a lifetime is multiplied by a million…and we’ve become the centerfold in our own life story, readily available to anyone and everyone who’s willing to swipe left/right (don’t remember which it is) and hit like once in a while. So that’s the half empty view.

But the glass doesn’t need to be half empty, if we choose to see it as half full. Think about all the benefits we get every day from harnessing technology the right way, and not just in anyway.

Here’s my short (or not so short list) of what makes it a half-full view:

1)   Access to the Internet via phone or smart device. International and long-distance calls, free! We used to have to go buy those silly calling cards, which never really worked all the way, and ran out halfway through most calls anyway. That or be saddled with a hefty phone bill when we’d reach out to touch loved ones long distances away. The million other ways we access the internet via smart devices needs no introduction.

2)   Purchasing merchandise online, anytime, anywhere. Just about every retailer has an app. And Amazon alone puts the world at your fingertips, with their easy-peasy one-click search and buy options, including same-day delivery for some things. Wow.

3)   Setting alarms and reminders. So we used to fret about setting that annoying alarm clock, and we still didn’t trust it while on the road, having to ask for a wake up call from the hotel front desk. Well now you can be reminded of just about anything…including to pick up milk on your way back, when your dentist appointment is, and oh, lest I forget, your 400+ friends and their birthdays!

4)   Getting the weather for any city anytime. Never thought I’d be curious what the weather was like in Bermuda when it’s 32 degrees in New York…but seriously, there’s really no excuse for packing the wrong clothes with all the weather forecast options available through weather apps on your devices…up to 7-10 days in advance. Nice. And if you’re the lazy type and don’t want to do the search yourself, just ask Siri or Alexa, and they’ll let you know.

5)   Handy-dandy calculator. Who needs to remember multiplication/division when you have easy calculators at your fingertips. Now that’s one item we generally didn’t carry in our pocketbooks/back pockets, but now we have it anyway. And beyond simple math, most of us just won’t be whipping out pencil/paper to do long calculations.

6)   Mail… electronically. No more postage! Well, it’s email, which replaces a lot of transactions we used to mail out…but it’s prepaid postage labels, and vendor-paid mail options when physical is needed. I doubt we’ll fully eliminate the mailman (personally I think he’s a nice guy) but you will see him less over time I think.

7)   Online banking, anytime. Not just looking up balances, I’m talking moving money, setting up bills and even depositing checks. Virtually any time. I will admit, I never thought the day would come when I didn’t have to go to the bank to deposit checks. And now you can just Paypal or Popmoney your friend, your plumber, and the sitter. Once we get this fully adopted, we may just not need the bank branches themselves!

8)   Meetings, personal and business. So this is not eliminating meetings (although that may be nice too), but changing how they happen. With the myriad of Webex and Go To Meeting options, seeing the other party all the way across town and world is more than possible, it’s real. That has changed and improved the communication in a drastic way…it’s allowed the body language to come through because of the visual. And of course in person is best, but that’s not always possible, so second to best is best. A facetime call with your daughter/son/nanny when you're thousands of miles away has softened the blow on many a business trip.

9)   Map services, and navigation. Hands free…one of my very favorite features. Suddenly we’re all free, to go wherever and whenever…and if we get a little lost, there’s someone politely getting us back on track. I’m sure this alone has saved many marriages. And not only the how to get there, but the best route to take because of traffic, accidents, etc. And if you should run low on fuel, a ton of gas stations miraculously pop up on your map. Sorry AAA…maybe next time. J

10) Ordering food, reservations, saving time and money. Dining has never been easier, nor more rewarding. You don’t need to ask your family and friends for recommendations, you’ve got Urban Spoon helping you with that, and giving you unbiased ratings too. Anything from reservations in advance, to special deals, and prepayment. All within the palm of your hand.

11) Easy research and informed consumer. No more consumer reports, when you can use Trip Advisor, Urban Spoon, and many more for ratings and menu look up. Buying a car, when you know as much about the actual book price as the dealer does, totally changes the dynamics of the deal.

12) Educational access. Anything from dictionary and meaning look up, colloquial familiarity (Urban Dictionary), to full research on any topic and at any time…I’m amazed we still have libraries. But just think about how much more informed we can be, whether it’s looking up symptoms of a virus we think we have, to what regions have the most earthquakes for a research paper, to video clips for your Girl Scout gold award. It’s all possible, and mostly free (except for your ASP monthly fees of course.)

13) Access to entertainment. Via video streaming and program ordering at your fingertips… no longer need multiple devices and subscriptions (thank you YouTube)… when you have on-demand anywhere anytime. And when it’s a bit more exclusive, you can at least access your subscriptions from anywhere…the road, the office, an airport, or a hotel room.

14) Free how0to sessions from anywhere and about anything. What can't you find on YouTube now that teaches you how to do just about anything from how to dye your hair to how to fix a leaky faucet. Everyone’s an expert, and no one’s an expert. A marriage made in heaven, matching those who need to show with those who need to know.

15) Insider information on contractors. Anything from Angie's list to other websites to fairly rate contractors on their services and give you valuable feedback. Buyer beware is right! But it also puts a focus on quality, because whether you want them to know how good or bad your service is, they will know.

16) Ads and ad-vice for free. Apps like Letgo and Offer Up, to name a few, will help you sell or buy anything locally or long distance with zero cost for the ad. You can locate anything you want, and offload anything you don’t, in seconds (at least get started anyway.) An old rug, a car seat, your unused guitar, old Iphone, and even sneakers (still don’t get this one…who buys someone else’s shoes!?!?!) And you’ll know how others have fared in their experiences with that seller or buyer. 

17) Security systems now allow keyless entries to just about anything. Your pc, your car, your home. And for the latter, arming and disarming and your haven from 1,000,000 miles away, and knowing who's at your doorstep when you're away, ah….peace of mind.

18) Tracking anything or anyone. Putting Tiles and GPS trackers on items, or even people. Find my phone, find my laptop, find my car… find my daughter/son (coming soon…) Anything but find my mind. All in the name of finding time.

19) Staying healthy. Tracking your heart rate, your blood pressure, your footsteps…all on your wrist without any complexity. Track your sleep pattern and your standing and walking stride. Useful and tangible information. No longer need an annual doctor visit to tell you things you should know, you now know if you want to know.

20) Play time. By yourself (Solitaire, Candy Crush, etc.) or with others, GTA, Words with Friends…the list is endless. You can disconnect from the world or connect with the world, all in the name of fun.

These are but a few examples of technology at your fingertips, or in the palm of your hand. But when you think about all the ways “it” (technology) changes how you interact with normal day-to-day things, that’s amazing too. Elevators now don’t have buttons, they work off of digital cards that know what floor you're destined for (or allowed on). I call it increased security, although I still have to laugh at the initial complexity and confusion this introduced to the puzzled crowd at the elevator doors in the lobby.

Technology now even recognizes your voice, and your face as a digital footprint. By simple voice command and unique voice pattern your identity is confirmed and used as your blueprint for access to resources. Just a few days ago my bank offered a facial-recognition option, in addition to my fingerprint (old news) and a new digital voice print. Think about how much more secure that will make online transactions (until we start missing fingers and thumbs.)

Going green without the green. Hey just about anyone or anything can now be done with technology. Pop money, PayPal, Apple Pay, pay your babysitter your friends, your dog watcher, with the simple click and send, no more trips to the ATM, or family, or going for cash in your wallet or looking for cash between your seat cushions.

Traveling via plane or train, ordering tickets and accessing those tickets in your palm… easier than fumbling for it in your pocketbook or wallet. No more forgetting or losing your ticket. No more printing tickets or directions to get anywhere.

So you see, the list goes on and on. There are virtually thousands if not millions of applications for our smart devices every day, making it easier and not harder to do things that took much more time in the past. And what do you know about time? Well, it’s money, and so much more. While the media broadcasts the bad cases from social media use, if you use it well, it serves you well. Think about whole families that have been united via Facebook, and even revolutions started via social media. This is no doubt a powerful information avenue that won’t be shut down. We can't turn back now, so we have to diligently and carefully use IT to our advantage. We simply can't live without IT, these trends are not going backwards but forwards. We just have to secure ourselves and apply the right level of smart. Securing our identity, being more diligent, scrutinizing our friends and their access, and filtering what is and what isn't shared openly and publicly. Throttling privacy versus publicity will be our individual challenge. This is all our responsibility, all the time. So the class can be half full or half empty, depending on how you want to see it. Me, it’s always more than just half full.   ;)