Just how important is technology?

Funnily enough, I’ll start this article by saying I was reading wired on my iPad. Through the reading however there was a particular line which got me thinking.

“…checking your email is now akin to brushing your teeth…”

So just how important is technology in our daily lives, and is it really akin to brushing your teeth? For me, daily life involves waking up, doing all the bathroom stuff, checking my email and maybe one or two RSS feeds, driving to work listening to a podcast on my iPhone plugged into my car stereo before getting into work, checking my works email and so on. Coming home is much the same, I listen to another podcast on my way home, get in and read more RSS feeds while checking on various technology sites, perhaps reading a book on my iPad or a magazine before going to bed (of course brushing my teeth first).

For me technology is everything. Of course it is, it’s my job, so perhaps I’m a little biased. I’m the type of person who instead of having a tv, had a windows media center pc hooked up so I can get a few extra benefits. I’m not your typical user or consumer, so for me technology is part of my life, and no I couldn’t live without it.

What about someone who doesn’t use technology that much, hard to believe in this day and age but let’s consider my mother or even my father. My mother has an iPhone, but does not technically own a computer, she has a works laptop. However my father has a computer, but only a basic “dumb phone”. Despite these two radical differences, both my mother and father check their email daily. They both always carry their phone with them, and they all go on the web.

My father checks his email on the computer, browses a few sites at least once a day, whereas my mother uses her iPhone for just about everything. I guess you could say that for both of them, technology is also akin to brushing their teeth. Of course it doesn’t help that their son is part of the technology world and is constantly trying to push at least one form of technology into their lives, be it willingly or not. But even for these people it’s still a daily routine.

What about a friend of mine, who isn’t in a techno oriented family? I won’t name any names, but all I’ll say is even he has a nokia smartphone. He checks his email at least once a day, browses ebay every few days, and whilst tech for him isn’t quite akin to brushing his teeth, it’s near enough.

In fact i cant actually think of a single person who doesn’t at least carry their phone with them every day or check emails on a regular basis, and studies have shown that I’m not alone. In fact a few reports have shown that more people now consider it “impossible” to continue their daily lives without some form of computer related technology than ever before.

So how about you? Are you the type that finds technology a necessary part of your life, or are you the type that could happily live without it? Of course the bigger question is a far simpler one, which concerns daily life and work.

Is it possible in this day and age to survive and continue without at least one piece of computer related equipment?

Although this brings up further questions it’s a good point, we could all theoretically survive without email, but could we really survive without the rest?

Tell me your story, and tell me just what makes you think you could or couldn’t survive without a computer.