At this point in life, having a conversation with someone means tearing them away from their computer or phone screen.  Technology has, quite literally, put everything at our fingertips, and made it all accessible with the touch of a button.  In the last couple of years, enough progress has been made with technology that there is really no need to leave your house to go anywhere.

Because everything is on a Smartphone or on a computer, not many people feel the need to go out to the library to check out books or go physically get out of the house to do some shopping.  There is no need to browse through the library’s selection of books when you can just go online to the library’s website, place the books you want on hold, and then wait a couple of days for an e-mail notification when they are ready for pick-up. You could even check out an e-Book and save yourself the trip to the library. With online shopping, however, you can buy carts upon carts of things with a touch of a button and it will be mailed directly to your house within five to seven business days.  I have seen countless tweets and Facebook posts where people complain about their clothes or packages not coming in the mail when there are other relevant things we could occupy our time with.  I admit that I shop online more often than I go to the mall, but certain things (like lack of tall jeans) keep me from stepping into stores.

 The effect of “going digital” goes so far as putting chain bookstores like Borders out of business.  With the addition of e-Books into book catalogs, more people are opting to buying e-Books and having them on their computers or Smartphones so they can read them anywhere.  While people argue that you could take a book with everywhere, you can’t deny; Smartphones are a bit more convenient than carrying a bulky hardcover books around.  Personally, I like the feel of a hardcover or paperback book in my hands.  I prefer the textural feel of the paper in my hands as well as turning the page.  With e-Books, all you’re really doing is staring at a screen all day which sort of defeats the purpose of picking up a book and reading it for hours on end.  With an e-Book, you’re switching from your Twitter Feed (or any social media) to a book that is on a screen.  It might as well be the same thing since most people end up flocking back to social media if they’re on the Internet.

 Being this technologically advanced makes us almost entirely dependent on technology.  Bookstores aren’t the only stores that are going to be making changes to make themselves technologically advanced.  Supermarkets have already taken a step via self checkouts, which reduces the amount of actual work an employee has to do since a machine is doing the bulk of it.  I feel that these changes are creating more jobs for machinery in the job market, which directly impacts high school and college students as they are the employees in the supermarket, bookstores and other stores.  There is no need to have people behind cash registers when there is a machine that processes the order.

 Unfortunately this also affects education as well.  With sites like Wikipedia and search engines like Google, we are slowly eliminating the use of textbooks and actual learning.  Since most people have access to a Smartphone or at least a computer, they could simply google something they don’t know, even on the go.  It doesn’t take much knowledge to type “how to…” or “what is…” into Google and get answers spat back to you in .04 milliseconds (or less).  The worst of what technology has done to education is when students have to look up dictionary definitions for an English assignment.  You can hear the audible groan and ten minutes of complaining as they thumb through the dictionary.  What I find sad and a bit worrying, however, is the fact that most people don’t even make the effort to get the dictionary out.  They simply go to their trusty Dictionary.com app and type whatever word they need into the search bar. Technology has amounted to people not even having the patience to look through a tangible dictionary for a definition.

  While we are sitting on our couches (or anywhere really), glued to our Smartphone screens, flicking through online catalogs, the App Store, and Google search results, other nations are moving forward in education and manufacturing; however, it’s perfectly fine to sit back and watch the other nations become global powers.  Why make an effort when you can check who won the Golden Globes at this very moment while tweeting about how your shipment of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones and all-important LifeProof iPhone case haven’t come in the mail yet?