Too Much Tech?
Is there such a thing as too much tech?
Update
Hello there! Another newsletter article for ya! I won't lie to you that I have been a little distracted the last week so I haven't gotten a lot accomplished! I got Hogwarts Legacy and that took up a big chunk of my weekend between that and the Super Bowl! Hope you guys were productive or maybe you had a relaxing week as I did. Breaks are always welcome and sometimes needed.
I did start this week the Working with Data in iOS course on Coursera and I'm near the point of starting the final project for that course at the time of writing this. After that, I have the Android version of the class. I've been also working on my portfolio. I have divided it into sections from my current one and have been updating each section each time I sit down and write it. My goal right now is to leave February with it done! I've been enjoying using React with Chakra UI. I find it to be so powerful. I can't wait to get my hands on learning React Native. I can only imagine how great that is going to be.
Besides that everything else has been pretty same old. I upgraded my Canon Rebel T6 to a Canon EOS R7 and I have been loving the photos that I got from that. Feel free to follow my Instagram (@seanmilfort) because I will be posting the majority of the pictures there. I have been getting pretty consistent in posting shorts and reels so my next body of work is to start doing full videos. I'll let you know when those start.
But enough about me, time to get into this week's topic! Hope you enjoy it!
Too Much Tech
Tech is something that plays a massive role in my life. If you are reading this newsletter, it probably is a big part of yours as well. I enjoy all the benefits that tech has in our everyday lives, but some people would argue that I let it into too many aspects of my life. This made me start to think about an interesting concept: is there such a thing as too much tech? Can you start to let it run your life?
I think of course there has to be a limit. There is a limit to everything. Have I gone too far? I leave that for you to judge haha. I don't think I've gone too far, but I know I'm further into tech than the average person. I incorporate the majority of my life into tech from my multiple computers and hones to my smart toothbrush (yes, I have a smart toothbrush that tells me how well I am brushing my teeth. Maybe this is the thing that makes you believe that I've gone too far).
I see tech in a way that it should be improving your life in some form to make your experience better. Granted some people can see it being lazy. For example, I have automation in my house that depending on my behavior and routine, it'll turn certain things on and off for you. When I leave the house, everything (lights and TVs) is left on if they are on at that moment. I have automation that will turn everything off for me so I don't have to waste time hitting that one light switch or turning the TV off. Is that lazy? Some will say it is. I look at it as efficient.
But then there's the other side of it. The side that checks his tooth brushing stats every night before bed. The side that the water bottle tells me when I haven't had enough water that day and that I should drink more. This is the side I believe people fear. The side is that tech will start to control your life instead of you deciding what you need. To this, I will say you need to be careful of the things that you are incorporating. For example, I did not drink enough water. While some of you may say that a smart water bottle is pointless and you should just drink more water, I couldn’t get myself to do it. The minute it was a tracked thing, I started becoming more conscious of it. Now, it wasn't an immediate fix and I still miss days, but this is an example of someone thinking that I've taken it too far, but I see a real benefit to it.
The line between too far and benefit is a very subjective one. I think the line should be in a spot where it benefits the user, but they don't let it control your life. I can agree if you can't function without some of these "trivial" things like being reminded about drinking from a water bottle, then that will be a problem. You should be able to still function when the tech stops working, but if when it works it gives you a better quality of life, then why not utilize it?
There is something to say about enjoying a simpler time in life. I'm sure people from an older generation don't necessarily enjoy the tech and how complicated things seem to be getting. There is something to the tune of being one with nature and enjoying the moment right in front of you. I think these things just come down to what is most important to you. To me personally, enjoying nature and all that stuff isn't the most important thing. I like to work and be productive in creating things, but I can understand the mindset of wanting to have a simpler life and how tech can damage that.
At the end of the day, both sides are correct. I do think that at a time tech takes things too far. But on the flip side, tech does help many people improve their way of life. Realistically, it depends on what your relationship with the tech is and if you can function without it. If you can continue with your way of life in case the thing breaks and be just fine (this talking to not life-altering tech), then I think incorporating a lot of tech is not a bad thing. If you become so dependent on it that you can't function, I do agree that maybe it has gone a little too far.
How about you? Do you think tech can go too far?
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