Innovation Drives Change
Technological advances provide society with new ways to entertain, communicate.
More stories from Clay Vesser
Picture by Clay Vesser
Each year Apple comes out with a new version of the iPhone, Microsoft a new operating system and Boeing a new type of jet to fly. What hasn’t changed throughout history is the impact technology has on humanity: its past, its present and its future.
PAST
Before the age of computers, phones and Internet, people considered tech- nology to be tools such as the steam engine or the car. For entertainment, it was the television that was innovative since Netflix and Hulu had not been thought of yet. These innovative de- vices are only a small percentage of what technology is. Despite being iP- hone-less, the generations of the past did get to experience the beginning of the era of TV and computers.
“I remember our first color TV’s. I remember electric typewriters versus the manuals. I remember getting my first computer, which was when I was working at Illinois State University. Technology has grown by leaps and bounds. I got a computer right away,” career technology education depart- ment chair Donna Corcoran said.
Many types of technology have proven themselves to advance society some way in the past, but yet they also have had an everlasting impact on the present.
PRESENT
Social media seemingly affects nearly everyone in some way and many could not imagine how their lives would be without it. It is used every second, night and day, all around the world. Students at Antioch Community High School are no exception. Sophomore Jourdan Durfee is one student who uses technology to do what he loves.
“[I] play video games, watch movies or TV or make and edit gaming videos for YouTube. The whole reason I make videos is because of what I see through the media,” Durfee said.
Without technology, Durfee would not be able to do what he does, nor would many others. There would be no phones, computers, Internet, TVs, cars or much of anything without technology and what it created.
Smart phones help to keep organized and on task, and they are a great source of entertainment and an easy way to quickly look something up within seconds.
Seventy-seven percent of students at ACHS surveyed believe that technology can make life a lot easier and more convenient for its users. Despite the convenience, some feel that the increase leads to pain.
“I believe that cyber bullying is an inhumane act that targets innocent victims,” junior Ryan Thorn said.
Thorn sees a trend that people are stepping up to the cyber violence in an effort to be better humans.
“Hopefully our society can [head] towards a more peaceful direction,” Thorn said.
