Technology
Technology plays an important role in our lives today, and is something that most of us can’t do without. It has brought us such great convenience; making things once impossible to accomplish, now feasible with the click of a button. It has increased our efficiency and effectiveness, allowing production to occur at much faster pace than before, and the economy to boom at an unprecedented rate. It connects us to the rest of the world, and is indeed, the enabler of true globalization.
Technology has become such an integrated part of our lives, so much so that it has even become part of what defines us. All over the world the tech savvy crave for the latest technologies, and every new product launch is lauded and welcomed by people across continents. Being able to own the latest technologies has become a reflection of a person’s socio-economic status, and this phenomenon is evident in all levels of the society. Most people are part of the race to be the first to lay hands on the newest technological development, from young school going kids yearning for the latest game devices, to the businessmen lusting after the latest communication devices with sleek appearances to boot.
This is an age of great digital divide, where we see an increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots. While technology has often been claimed to improve the lives of many, and this I do not dispute, it has also highlighted the disparity between the rich and the poor. While the rich are able to afford technology in its newest forms, the poor are often happy enough to receive old and obsolete versions which are used and unwanted by the rich. This is assuming they even have the knowledge to use these devices in the first place. And we are likely to continue to observe this pattern of “handed down” consumption of technology.
In the free market, producers flock to wherever there is demand for their goods. For technology, this has got to be in the developed countries, where the people have the sophistication and financial abilities to demand for these goods. The latest technologies will therefore, almost always be produced for the rich. Because the invention and innovation of new technologies require great knowledge and expertise, they are accomplished by the developed nations themselves too. To raise the wall of technological divide even higher, production of these technological products requires highly skilled labour, which means these jobs are likely to go to the people in the developed nations as well. Now the loop is complete, with the production and consumption of technology all kept within the developed nations. So, when do the poor get to consume the highly acclaimed benefits of technology? When the rich are sick of their toys, and dispose of them to acquire new ones.
I can almost see the rich throwing their used technology over the imaginery walls, calling out to the poor on the other side, “Hey, this is for you! It can bring you greater convenience and improve your life!!”
This is a race where the tortoise can probably never catch up with the rabbit. Not until an ingenious tortoise can devise his own rules and begin a new race of his own altogether.
