Technology's birth spelt social turmoil

It's fair to say technology rules life. 90% of people - and this is a guestimate - rely on technology in their day-to-day lives albeit at work, at home, or socialising. Anything journalists write will be written on a laptop, researched using the Internet, published across the world wide web before being shared by the public on laptops, mobile phones, tablets - in fact, anything with an Internet connection (which, these days, is virtually anything with a battery).

To demonstrate, a lecture I attended recently contained about as much phone vibrations as it did words coming from the lecturer's mouth. With phones lying on wooden desks, these vibrations are about as quiet as a landmine, and when they're going off left, right and centre, at times it felt like I was in a warzone.

It's a shame that technology dictates life, but it's scary to think that just 30 years ago the Internet was only just launching. Newsrooms only started using the Internet in the mid-nineties and before this time the phone was the only real source of news collecting. Technology 'back in the day' was never the be all and end all of everyday life; people didn't surround pixelated screens to get their kicks, they actually communicated face-to-face.

Fair enough, technology has blossomed and without the invention of such things as the Internet, without icons like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, without techonological advancements such as GPS and Wi-Fi we wouldn't be anywhere near as privileged as we are today. However, it's a shame that technology is now relied upon as much if not more than basic demands like eating and sleeping. Gone are the days of sitting around a dinner table - at least without a mobile phone on the table, in a pocket, or on the sofa only a few feet away.

Imagine going shopping just ten years ago, leaving the shop assistant perplexed by every mention of LED TV, high definition, and 3G mobile phones. 'Back then' things were a whole load simpler, and even though there's no denying the world is moving forward, it's just a shame that life itself is taking a back seat behind technology.

Yes, okay, the Internet has done wonderful things for communication and business. Skype allows peer-to-peer conversations wherever your location, whilst Facebook and Twitter allow strangers to build social networks from their bedrooms. But the next time you're with your friends for a day - be it at home or out and about - try and not use your phone for the day, don't turn on the computer, don't even touch the TV. Go out and explore, play a sport, lounge about in a park. Hard, isn't it?

Crash Course in 'Green' Motoring

After setting up a Twitter account for my media project, I can't help but get excited about the prospect of what I've taken on. Starting with a brief framework with the words 'Green', 'Electric' and (thanks to a BMW-loving father) 'BMW i8', through just minimal research online I've found there's a huge interest in electric and greener cars. 

All of the major car manufacturers I've researched are, or plan to, produce more eco-friendly cars in the coming years. There are obviously a few hybrids already existing in the market - with Toyota a large player in the game - but there are extremely encouraging signs that this is just the beginning.

There's a film that premiered last month called Revenge of the Electric Car, a documentary monitoring the electric car's rise after a previous film by the same director Chris Paine monitored the demise of such technology. In the trailer I've seen, there is footage from a congress with one man mentioning that until the streets are lined with electric cars, he will not stop creating electric cars or push for change. People like this really do command respect for everything they do.

Just over a century ago, Henry Fords' self-titled car, the first of its kind, hit the market. Since, cars have evolved steadily. Starting with thoughts that any speed over 20mph would kill a man, technology has progressed so that not only speed, but in-car features, handling, emissions and reliability has all inproved leaps and bounds.

The next step to the car's future is surely electric. Fair, electric cars may not be ready to hit the mainstream just yet, but with eco-friendly cars pumping out surplus 80mpg it is only a matter of when, not if, the future will change dramatically.