If you love your iPhone, or any other piece of technology for that matter, let’s hope that it’s not making you poor. Because there are indeed some potential downsides of relying so much on this type of gadgets.
The social implications are pretty scary at times. We turn into loners when we spend most of our time in front of the screen. And we become anti-social monsters with zero empathy when we communicate only through emojis instead of real words and facial expressions.
A brief history of technology and its impact on our lives
Many of us have fond memories of playing with toys as children, building model airplanes or cars, or reading books and comic books. We spent hours exploring the outdoors in our free time.
There were no computer games or apps yet back then, so children used their imagination and creativity to discover their surroundings and create their own fun. When we grew up, computers and the internet became common. As a result, our lives changed significantly. We had less leisure time, and we used computers for work and school assignments.
In addition, fewer books are in print, and smartphones have popular. Now it’s easier to access the internet and social media from anywhere. We can also make and receive voice calls or send text messages anytime, anywhere. And let’s not forget about the rise of wearable technology. Now we can track our fitness levels, heart rate, and other health metrics while working out. Wearable devices such as smartwatches are also useful for managing our daily schedules.
Is technology making us poor?
There are several ways in which technology might be making us poor. Some people have to spend a great deal of money to get a high-end device that is compatible with the latest software updates.
Moreover, you might have to pay for extra services, such as monthly subscriptions for streaming media content. And you might have to keep upgrading your device because it becomes obsolete quickly.
Lost opportunity – Technology can make it difficult to find a job or be promoted because you won’t have the same work ethic as someone who is not glued to a screen.
Less time with family and friends – If you’re always staring at your smartphone, you might not be spending enough time with your loved ones.
Weight gain – When you use a device for a long period of time, you’ll develop bad habits and often forget to exercise or eat properly. – Poor sleep – You might not get enough sleep if you use a device before bedtime.
How does technology affect our spending habits?
Let’s say you use a digital wallet to pay for goods and services or shop online, or you’re a fan of subscription-based services such as Amazon Prime. You might not know how much you’re spending.
The exact amount is often not clear, so you may end up spending more than you intended to. You can also be more vulnerable to hackers who may try to steal your data.
In addition, you’re contributing to environmental damage by using plastic cards that are not biodegradable. Digital wallets and online shopping have forced retailers to change their business models.
For example, several retailers have started offering “guilt-free” prices that are not discounted. In some cases, stores have even removed price tags altogether because they can’t compete with online retailers. This change could hurt local businesses and result in fewer jobs or lower wages for employees.
How much do we spend on technology?
According to the American Institute of CPAs, consumers spend $166 every month on cable TV, home Internet access, mobile phone service, and digital subscriptions—the same amount that is spent on rent or mortgage.
In addition, Americans spend an average of $38 every month on digital products such as apps, songs, movies, and TV shows, as well as two apps, two games, and two eBooks.
Aussie spend to stay connected
It is costing Australians a pretty penny to stay connected – $46.3 billion, to be precise. Your internet, mobile phone, and streaming connections may be a good place to start saving money and cutting down on spending if your New Year’s resolution is to do the same.
Australian break down
$642 million on streaming per month
$1.15 billion on mobile each month
$2.06 billion on internet each month
Individual Spending – Average Lifetime Spending
$78,000 on internet
$41,800 on mobile and
$19,300 on streaming services.
Total of over $139,000 per Australian to stay connected.
How is technology making us unhealthy?
Health experts warn that technology is making us unhealthy. Many people are glued to their smartphones and don’t get the amount of sleep they need. As a result, they’re more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and fatigue.
Babies and toddlers who grow up with tablets and smartphones are more likely to become obese because they don’t get enough exercise. They also don’t learn how to regulate their emotions, so they are more likely to become volatile.
Correlating with the rise of the smartphone, there has been a surge in cases of “death by selfie” with people being mauled to death by wild animals or falling off a cliff while taking a photo.
How does technology make us unhappy?
There are various studies that show how technology is making us unhappy:
We don’t learn to be empathetic – If you communicate with people mainly through emojis or emojis and GIFs or fake words, or you’re always watching videos on YouTube or Netflix, you’ll miss the meaning behind facial expressions and words that are not encoded digitally.
We don’t meet our potential – When we’re always online, we don’t have time to pursue our personal interests and dreams.
We fall into a rut – We become bored when there’s nothing new to learn or do. We’re also more likely to become depressed.
We become loners – The more time we spend online, the less time we have to spend with real people in real life. As a result, we don’t make real friends or interact with people on a regular basis. – We lose track of time
Time flies when we’re enjoying ourselves. It’s easy to be on social media or watching videos for hours on end without even realizing it.
Technology driven inequality leads to poverty and resource depletion.
A connection between rapid inequality and resource overuse is often seen. For example, water extraction in Pakistan, land degradation in Bangladesh, forest cutting in Sub-Saharan Africa, and industrial fishing in Lake Victoria are all examples of how this happens.
While ecosystem services provided by common pool resources help to reduce poverty, exclusive access to technology by the wealthy may contribute to excessive resource extraction, which depletes the resource and widens the economic gap.
A stylised social-ecological model is used to illustrate how positive feedback between wealth and technology may cause local inequality.
Local inequality can lead to resource degradation and ecological resource collapse, as well as to habitat degradation and increased poverty. We also discover that, when technolog y is unequally distributed, wealth is distributed in such a way that a society might move towards a stable state in which there are few wealthy individuals and many poor ones.
In sum, our work shows how technology might be an engine of resource scarcity that traps the most vulnerable individuals in poverty.
Extended Summary
As you can see, there are many ways in which technology is making us poor. So it’s important to use technology in moderation and enjoy the other pleasures in life. It’s also important to remember that the true cost of technology is not just the price of the device. It’s also the amount of time we spend on it, the ways in which it affects our health and relationships, and the amount of money we spend on it.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings