Technology and Personal Relationships
The Internet, as we know, it is barely more than a decade old, and the personal computer, the means by which the Internet can be accessed is only a few decades older still. What this means is that for the younger members of society advanced technology is all they have ever known, while for those older ones, they remember a time when public payphones were the only way to make a call when away from home and a computer was something a person saw in science fiction movies. With this in mind I recently conducted a pair of interviews with two persons who were varied in age. The first was a friend and coworker of mine who is also a student in their early twenties and has lived a life entirely saturated with advanced technology, while the second was my uncle who is fifty years of age and works as a manager of a grocery store.
I met my friend "Bill" after work at the restaurant where we are both employed and conducted the interview at the bar while we both ate dinner. I began the interview by explaining the purpose for it and asking the first question that needed to be asked "How does technology affect your relationships with your family and friends?" He began with a story of how his mother constantly calls him, often several times a day, and how technology...
"She can hound me wherever I am," he said laughingly. "But it is still nice to know that someone cares."
For him, what seemed the most important aspect of technology was the ease of communication. While it can be annoying, it is an almost unconscious aspect of everyday life. Bill admitted that uses his Smartphone "at least two dozen times a day, and probably more," to send texts to people, to confirm plans, to play games, and even to just call friends to "talk about nothing." Bill may be surrounded by technology, a pad, laptop, mp3 player, videogame, etc., and he uses all of them at one time or another each day, but it is the aspect of communication that impacts his relationship with family and friends the most. "Being able to contact just about anyone at anytime for any reason is the most important thing about technology for me" he answered. "That and ordering pizza, where would I be if I couldn't pick up my phone and order a pizza?"
The next interview was with my mother's brother, named Bob, who is fifty years old and a manager of a grocery store in another city. Because of the distance involved, the interview was conducted over the phone. The thing that surprised me was his…
