Avoiding cold technology

It was Dec. 31. For me, this is the most exciting day of the year. Not because it's New Year's Eve but because it also happens to be my birthday. As the day went on I was getting tons of e-mails and Facebook messages congratulating me. While all of this was nice, I felt a little cold inside. \nThe reason for this was that although I appreciated all the e-mails and Facebook messages, they felt much colder than the "in person" congratulations or phone calls. Later on in the day my closer friends began to call me and congratulate me. This lifted my spirits and I felt better about the day. In the afternoon many of my relatives came to celebrate my birthday and the cold e-mails became a distant memory.\nHowever, the experience was not distant enough to keep me from contemplating the effects of technology on society. I actually brought up this point to my friend Chase who took the time to call me on my birthday. I told him that the phone call had become the new "in person" way of talking. \nTry to think back to the time when phones were created. Although there were many practical and business uses for the phone, many people used them because it was much easier to call rather than to walk across town to talk to the individual on the other line. Phones also became an impersonal way of asking simple questions to the other person. I suspect, as is true with the Internet in the modern world, phone calls also became a popular way to break up with a significant other.\nCan it be that newer technology that was meant to bring us together has been the very thing that has brought us further apart? I believe it is time for society to really examine the true costs of technology. Now, before you try to label me as a retroactive fool, keep this in mind: My company relies more heavily on technology than any other ticket brokerage in the world. We have online programs, systems, online telephone, online fax, and many other things that have not reached mainstream use in the public. However, at the end of the day, I am on my cell phone talking to my partners, broker reps, and even to the FedEx representatives who do such an excellent job for us.\nThe effects of technology on interpersonal communication was further demonstrated by a story that my Strategy teacher, Professor David Rubinstein, told us in class about a study where students were divided into two groups. One group was asked to use the Internet to communicate, the other group was asked not to use the Internet and other new technology to communicate. After a year, the group that did not use the technology was in high spirits while the technology group was lonelier and had lower morale.\nNow, it would be extremely hypocritical for me to tell you not to use e-mail to communicate with others. In fact, I am a heavy e-mail user and I usually respond to e-mails within 1-2 hours (unless it is a girl and I am playing hard to get). However, I use e-mail as moderately as possible. If there is some way I can communicate something by phone, then that is my preferred method.\nThe reason I am so \nconcerned about the technological boom in our society is that consumer products are slowly starting to take up any "in between" time that individuals may have. This "in between" time used to be the time where new people met each other and talked about the weather. These times include time spent in the elevator, riding the bus sitting at Starbucks. Products such as the iPod are starting to take away this time and limiting the chances of serendipitous experiences.\nI myself was in a real predicament when I was thinking about whether or not to ask for an iPod on my birthday. \nI feared it would disconnect me from other people. Personally, I enjoy striking up conversations with many people every day. One of the best places to do this is by riding the campus bus. I have noticed that many people close themselves off to others by listening to music. I did not want to become someone who interacted more with technology than with other people.\nMost new technologies, such as the Internet, cell phones, and even e-mail were designed for commercial purposes. Most companies have done a good job in limiting impersonal communication to discussing details and not building relationships. Companies continue to spend thousands of dollars in meeting eye to eye with their business partners. Individuals, on the other hand, have began to rely on technology for relationship building and casual interacting.\nIt is important that every individual start to consider the true cost of technology and whether or not another method of communication is a wiser choice. As any successful business person knows: True business (and true relationships) are transacted in person.