Technology Helpfully Destructive

Technology has been a huge advancement for society. It has allowed us to be able to connect with people from around the world in some instances at the same time. For me technology has been a huge help and allowed for me to access more information and other leisure goods. The GPS functional technology is super helpful and very practical. I for one have a terrible sense of direction and rely a lot on the use of the GPS to help me get to places for the first couple of times. This has really helped me become better at finding locations and meeting up with my friends. It also has helped me determine what route is the fastest while also telling me an estimated time of arrival which helps me to better create time management. One of the biggest stories that I can remember that used the GPS was in the summer of 2020 and me and some friends went to the drive-in theater in Valpo for a concert and I had no idea how to get there as it would be my first time. But thanks to the GPS I was able to find it with relative ease and got there extra early to ensure that we got a good location to view the concert as well as be able to leave quickly. Technology is a beneficial tool for society however not every aspect of technology is beneficial and in many instances our dependency on technology can become taken advantage of for personal gain or company gains. Such as in the book the Circle by Dave Egger, in which the company that is the circle has a monopoly on the technology department. It is a huge honor to work for the company and get access to new technological developments before they hit consumer markets. It allows for the employees to not wonder or worry about the company's daily dealings because they are in constant development of their own with their benefits and other luxuries that they could afford before. In some regards this is similar to the company apple which has a very large following and it increases its prices while giving less and less with each new design of an iPhone. However with giving out less they are increasing technology, and info structure of  the phones.

This event that occurred to me was a fun but not so fun experience. Thanks to my phone and the GPS we were able to get to the event safely but as the car broke down it lead to me needing to use my phone to call my parents and let them know what was going on but we were also fortunate enough to be able to call AAA (American Automobile Association) because my friend was a member of it. This helped us out tremendously because in the end it was my alternator that was dead, it was an older truck and it needed to be replaced. The reason it took so long for us to call someone was because we attempted to find the problem and fix it ourselves. When my friend and I got into a car that already had too many people in it we got to our destination and attempted to find a solution. I talked to someone whose daughter worked in a scrap yard and loved cars. She happened to be there and overheard the problem, and she said that it is most likely the alternator. In the end she was right. The guy who worked for AAA was super nice and very helpful. I couldn't have been more thankful as it was pushing almost 3 in the morning by the time we called for someone. He was able to test the car and see what was wrong with it. Which was the alternator. It had been my lucky day because  he had a battery that was new and was the exact brand that I needed which would keep the car alive long enough to make it to where I needed to get to. By the time we made it back with the new battery the car died again just in time. We got to the location as the sun was coming up around five in the morning, slept for a couple of hours and went in my parents car and bought a new alternator. Thankfully we had a friend who worked on cars who was still there and he was willing to put the alternator in for us which was a huge help because I have next to no knowledge about cars, and wouldn’t even know where to start with the change. 

One big mode of technological innovation in the 21st century is that it has allowed for almost every human being to be able to have a computer in their back pocket, the cell phone. It has allowed for people to connect with one another at any point in time. People myself included are able to share their experiences with others through social media platforms. Many times I have shared concert experiences on social media for my friends to see and others. I have seen others using facetime which is a feature of the iPhone to video call with some friends that could not attend the concert. Which I thought was a very unique way of sharing the fun experiences with others outside the typical realm of social media postings. But it stands to show how much influence the cell phone has on our daily lives. It has hugely increased how many accidents occur while people are on their phones. “The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. Nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving. 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving” (edgarsnyder.com). The same time the phone is a very helpful and important tool in society now it is also a deadly weapon. Many people are so glued to their phones that they deem it necessary to use it while operating a vehicle. 

The world of technology has evolved and is slowly becoming dominated by some specific companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung are some of the biggest company names that pop up the most especially in the department of cell phones. They have a large marketing plan on the cell phone market. They release a new phone fairly regularly and it increases in price dramatically but thanks to their monopoly over the market it becomes increasingly difficult to get a smartphone in any other way that would “work” in tip top shape. In a similar idea in the book the Circle by Dave Eggers, the company that is the Circle is being contested for having a monopoly on the market of technology. “We are here today to insist that the Senate’s Antitrust Task Force begin an investigation into whether or not the Circle acts as a monopoly. We believe that the Justice Department will see the Circle for what it is, a monopoly in its purest sense, and move to break it up, just as they did with Standard Oil, AT&T and every other demonstrated monopoly in our history. The dominance of the Circle stifles competition and is dangerous to our way of free-market capitalism” (Egger 98). This exemplifies that there is a large monopoly that takes hold of the new technological advances in smartphones or internet services not only in the book but in real life as well. Technology has become so integrated into our society that it is virtually impossible to achieve much without a phone or the internet in some manner or another. This gives companies such as the Circle or others to capitalize on this idea that has been imprinted into our minds, and use this to their advantage. It allowed for them to create new phones or internet speeds or services which are beneficial but they took to social media and other platforms to boost their numbers and show off how important the product will be.

Many corporations that exist today are able to monopolize their markets because they play on the consumers interests and what they look for. They are also playing into their employees to keep them happy and from revolting or questioning what they are doing as a whole. This gives the companies some more leeway about what is going on and their tactics to monopolize the tech industry. “The Circle was a company popular on both sides of the aisle, known for its pragmatic positions on virtually every political issue, for its generous donations, and thus this left-of-center senator wouldn’t get much support from her liberal colleagues—much less among the Republican ranks” (Egger 98). Similar to what some companies do in real life the Circle was able to play its strengths on both sides of the aisle. It allowed for people to not see what was actually going on in the company when they were being brought to court for monopolizing the tech industry; many members of the Circle didn’t see why they would even consider this as a possibility. Technology is a wonderfully beneficial tool for society but not everyone will see it that way and some take advantage of our dependence for their own benefit and material gain.

Work Cited

Eggers, Dave. The Circle. Penguin Books, 2004.
Snyder, Edgar. “Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving.” Edgarsnyder.com, 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html#:~:text=The%20National%20Safety%20Council%20reports,caused%20by%20texting%20and%20driving. 
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