नशे की लत वाली तकनीकें जो हमें तूफान में ले गईं  

तकनीक से संबंधित कोई भी चीज जिसका हम आज उपयोग करते हैं, इंटरनेट के बिना बेकार है। दो दशक पहले, इंटरनेट कुछ ऐसा था जिसके लिए लोग तरसते थे। और जिन लोगों को यह पर्याप्त विशेषाधिकार प्राप्त था, उन्होंने इसका थोड़ा-थोड़ा करके उपयोग किया, अपनी मेहनत की कमाई की तुलना में इसे अधिक सावधानी से सहेजा। आज, इंटरनेट पर बिताया गया समय और इसके द्वारा विभिन्न अनुप्रयोगों के माध्यम से प्रदान किए जाने वाले समाधानों के लिए, हमें एक असीमित हाई-स्पीड कनेक्शन की आवश्यकता होती है, जो निरंतर ब्राउज़िंग, डाउनलोडिंग और अपलोडिंग गति पर बिना रुके चलता है।

पहले ईयरफोन आए, फिर वायरलेस ईयरबड और अब वास्तव में वायरलेस ईयरबड। 3.5 मिमी वायर्ड-जैक से लेकर नो-वायर ब्लूटूथ समर्थित इन-ईयर बड्स तक, यह गैजेट हर समय का साथी है। आप उनके बिना यात्रा नहीं कर सकते, उनके बिना काम नहीं कर सकते, और उनके बिना सो भी नहीं सकते। आज, हमारे पास दसियों प्रकार के हेडफ़ोन और इयरफ़ोन हैं जो स्पष्ट रूप से विभिन्न उद्देश्यों के लिए डिज़ाइन किए गए हैं, जिनमें संगीत से लेकर गेम खेलना शामिल है। जो कभी एक इलेक्ट्रॉनिक एक्सेसरी थी, अब उसका अपना एक अलग उद्योग है।

Congratulations Mr. Zuckerberg, despite so much talk about your negligence towards your platforms’ users, you still made a list and that too on No. 3. No matter what Zuckerberg has done, the dependence of people on Facebook and Instagram not just for social belonging, but also business needs has outgrown our concerns for data privacy. Now Instagram is an addiction, and Facebook is a one-stop solution for business promotion and social updates.

And for those who have forgotten, Facebook wasn’t even a thing until 2004 and was not yet public until 2006. So, just recall how life has just changed in less than two decades.

I think Google is what made us really dependent on the Internet. It was just a search engine earlier, and even then, it mesmerized us all with the information it could offer us. Later it became a mail client, and slowly and gradually, Google has become an entire suite of applications that we are using in every aspect of our personal and professional lives.

We never used emails two decades ago, and now complex tasks and conversations are carried out in minutes via mail. From document creation to cloud storage, Google has expanded its arms exponentially since its origin, and we willingly keep falling into them every single time.

Search for anything on the web, and the first link, you’ll find will direct you to Wikipedia. The authenticity of the information on Wikipedia is indeed questionable; after all, it’s all user-fed data. But, a majority of information, especially something which is established and known, is accurately summarized in a single article here. It covers a wide range of subjects and genres and offers everything necessary you ought to know at a single platform.

Going mobile is the most common tech trend these days. There is an app for every single platform, which allows you to execute their respective operations on the move. Earlier phones were a luxury, used only to call and send text messages when required. And now, smartphones have Internet connectivity, Bluetooth, and Camera. Google, Facebook, Wikipedia; everything is available on mobiles. Smartphones were once also an expensive revolution brought by Apple in 2007, which has now spawned into an industry consuming the entire globe.

Gone are the days when you traveled to the supermarket and spent hours selecting your groceries and other household stuff under your strict budget. Thanks to Amazon, we can now shop on our mobile phones and get all the things delivered at our doorstep without even paying for delivery. With Amazon’s Prime services, the delivery is even faster than ever. From groceries and apparel to electronics and travel accessories, Amazon has it all on its shelves.

Chat messengers have saved people from long calls and have enlarged your conversation circle by offering instant messaging and even internet calls. Though this was a feature that Yahoo and Google launched way back before WhatsApp, thanks to smartphones, Whatsapp ultimately took the credit. WhatsApp was the application most of the people from the millennial generation were introduced to. It was the only app that existed on a mobile platform and was available for free. Plus, this was the app that was a fresh face when the Internet entered into every household across the globe. And now, there is hardly any smartphone that does not have WhatsApp installed on it.

Netflix, Spotify, Prime Video and Music, Apple Music, etc. All these names were nothing before Y2K. Netflix existed but as a DVD rental service company and not as an online video streaming platform. And now, online streaming subscriptions have killed DVDs. These services are available on cross platforms. What was the last time you paid for cable and soundtrack cassettes?

10. Uber

Yes, Uber does have issues. It runs on a shared economy model so, services do get hampered every now and then. But it has indeed made travel easier than ever. Finding a cab in rushed city streets has always been a tough task, and Uber has made it quite easier and somewhat a bit cheaper at specified instances. Cars and motorcycles were one thing; it is even transporting people on choppers now. Could you have imagined sitting in a chopper before Y2K?

11. Online Banking and Payment Apps

I don’t remember the last time I visited the bank to deposit cheques or cash in my account. There is little cash in my wallet, enough to travel at shorter distances and buy an item or two from the shop. I never pay my rent and other bills in cash. And I even manage my credit cards on my phone. All thanks to these banking platforms operable via applications and browsers. I couldn’t have imagined this during my childhood days long back.

12. GPS Navigation

GPS was invented way back in 1978. But GPS was not embedded in mobile phones before 1997. And it was globally commercialized probably after 2005 when Google launched Maps. Today, we can travel to unknown places and wander in new streets due to GPS navigation devices installed on our phones.

13. Voice Assistants

“Alexa, change the song.” That has become quite a morning phrase when I’m getting ready for work and listening to my favorite playlists. Voice assistants have changed the way we live, and it’s just an initial glimpse of artificial intelligence. It’ll be something amazing when it expands its capabilities in the future.

Technology has come a long way since the last twenty years, and it has the potential to grow at much larger scales. AI is expanding to technological singularity; online streaming is increasing to game streaming platforms; we’re getting choppers for taxis; you can literally buy aircrafts online; chat messengers have evolved into calling applications; the list goes on.

This is just imagination. Virtual and Augmented Reality is also being researched further along with quantum computers’ capabilities like the one at IBM, and hundreds of different fields are emerging in this sector. It’s just hard to clarify what the next decade might have for us in the future, but we can rest assured that our lives are going to change on a large scale.

What Technologies Took You By Storm:

Tell us in the comments which of the modern-day tech. You got stuck to and have been using ever since. What do you expect from the technologies of the next decade? हमें सोशल मीडिया पर फॉलो करें - Facebook, Instagram और YouTube।