I recently came to the realization that I am a walking stereotype of a technophile Millennial. A technophile is someone who is obsessed or strongly enthused with technology, an attribute that is common with Millennials and Gen-Z.
The realization came to me while I was sitting on a beach in Southern California a few weeks ago. The waves were softly crashing against the shoreline. The weather was cool, but not too cool where it was uncomfortable. The beach has always been our place of zen and escape. It represented rest and rejuvenation for us.
My wife was sitting on the chair beside me, listening to music on her phone with her wireless earbuds. She didn’t want to disturb anyone around us. She listened to her music through an AI-driven algorithm, tailoring the music for her needs. A few texts from her family came through and she had Siri read them out for her.
Meanwhile, I was writing a new article for Medium on my iPad. I was running the iPad off my hotspot from my phone. The phone also doubled as a camera, storing dozens of photos from the day’s activities. Since my phone doesn’t have a lot of storage space, the photos are stored on a cloud where I would be able to access my precious memories any time I want in the future.
We had found this beach through Google maps — browsing destinations, and reading and trusting reviews from strangers from all over the globe. The app also served as our GPS, which we used to navigate to the beach after leaving our Airbnb. The AirBnb we were staying at had fast wireless internet that allowed us to work remotely for a few weeks while enjoying our leisure hours by streaming TV shows when we weren’t on the beach.
During the day, we were working from a home that was not our home — a temporary home. It was a home where we could go to the beach, a few minutes away from the house. It wasn’t a vacation, because we didn’t use PTO (Paid Time Off) and we were working our 9–5 job. Our work performance was uninterrupted since our work could be done on our laptops and good internet.
One evening, I took a picture of the sunset near a pier (the picture is the main photograph of this piece) with a used camera I bought off an online marketplace from a buyer whom I had never met nor will ever meet.
After my trip, I will end up editing and posting the photo online on social media, sharing my work for all to see. I will also end up publishing the photo on my internet gallery for those that wish to buy prints of my work. And finally, I will write about all of this on a writing platform that pays its contributors. All of this side work (side hustles in my world) on social media, helped fund my “work from home trip.”
The total share of alternative ways people of my generation try to make money, such as freelancing, side hustles, and contract work, is called the gig economy. Some studies say that “more than 90% of US workers would consider freelancing or independent contracting work” and it is estimated that 1/3 of US workers are part of the gig economy.
All of these thoughts came to me as I was sitting there on that beach, taking a slight pause from typing. “Oh, God,” I said to myself at first. “Is all of this technology really that necessary at the beach while I’m supposed to be relaxing?”
I considered my new realization for a few seconds. At first, I felt a bit extra and felt self-conscious about how much technology I was using at a place where I was supposed to be “disconnecting”. Then I realized that I was being silly and that I should actually appreciate technology for enabling me to be at the beach in the first place.
In fact, I would argue that technology has allowed us to live the best versions of our lives. Technology enables us to live our lives as free as possible. How? By giving us the most precious gift of all — time.
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Technology’s Main Benefits
Nowadays, it’s’ the cool thing to do to bash excess use of technology. But I think people really take technology for granted and underestimate the impact it has on their lives.
Yes, I do understand the concerns around technology on addiction, eye strain, data privacy, sustainability issues, automation taking away jobs, AI becoming smarter than us, robots taking over the world (Okay, maybe there are good reasons to hate on technology).
There are three benefits of technology that far outweigh any potential con of technology. First is the impact of technology on how much time it saves us. Time is the most crucial thing we don’t have enough of. We would rather use our time doing things with loved ones or things that leave us fulfilled.
The second benefit is technology’s enablement of our freedom in a physical sense — the freedom to go anywhere and stay connected. Technology allows us to do what we need to do, whether it be paying bills or shopping, in any location, near and far.
The last benefit, but not the least, of technology, is its ability to connect us anywhere around the globe. We can hop into video conferences to close the deal with a client instead of spending money on flights, hotels, and time to fly across the country. We can text our friends and family or stay updated on life events through social media without having to go to a dreaded high school reunion.
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Time
There is absolutely zero debate on how much technology has helped humans save time.
According to a mathematician, it was “found that on average, technology saves the average person about two weeks per year. That is two weeks that would otherwise be spent waiting in lines, shopping, cooking, driving, and doing various other mundane daily activities.”
You may not think it’s a big deal, but let me tell you something — it is. Time is the one thing you cannot claim back once it passes. Time is the most precious resource we have.
Think about where you’d rather be if you had all the time in the world — A beach, a cabin in the woods, or at home reading a book. Think about who you’d want to spend your free time with — family or friends.
Instead of wasting time combing through receipts for your business, you can use software to organize them for you so you can spend time with your friends later. You can save time by ordering groceries to deliver on an app instead of walking aisle-by-aisle at the store so you can cook dinner at an earlier time and watch a movie with your family.
Wouldn’t you agree that if you could maximize the amount of time you could spend on the things that you want to do, you’d do anything you can to do so?
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Freedom
Thanks to the power of portable technology, the internet, and cellular data, people have more mobility than ever before. People have become capable of doing what they need to do from anywhere with fewer restrictions.
COVID-19 accelerated the benefits of technology for the corporate world. People had proven to companies that they’re able to work productively from home. As a result, companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and American Express have changed their policies on their employees working remotely, opting for a more flexible solution, giving them the ability to work from anywhere.
It was thanks to this new outlook on technology from companies that allowed my wife and I to pack up our bags and our dogs to go work from California, a state that we didn’t live in.
Technology has helped us shop online from our couches or stream movies at home instead of going to the store or the movie theater. Technology has enabled us the ability to participate in hobbies at our favorite locations such as writing on a beach or listening to music on a hike.
Technology has allowed us to do what we need to do, wherever we need to do it.
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Connections
Technology has brought us closer together than ever before. Stuff like social media, video conferencing, SMS messaging, and emails allow us to communicate over long distances instantly. Even some of the video games I’ve played have connected me with some of the best people I’ve ever met. Some of these gamers became my groomsmen at my wedding!
When the pandemic first hit and many were quarantined, I was worried about not being able to connect with others. Those concerns were alleviated when I decided to utilize social media more aggressively and started building my digital following. As a result, I never felt alone and ended up meeting some interesting people on the internet like other writers on Medium or new connections on LinkedIn for business development purposes.
Another example of how easily technology connects us happened this past Christmas. The pandemic prevented us from visiting our families over the holidays like many others. I ended up buying a Facebook Portal and used it to video conference our families on the morning of Christmas. People were able to watch each other open gifts without being physically present during a worldwide pandemic.
Technology has brought the world closer, allowing people to connect and talk to one another from across the globe.
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Grateful
I personally couldn’t be more grateful for technology. As long as technology is used appropriately and not abused, it has the power to help people live their lives more efficiently and freer.
Unfortunately, it’s normal or frequent for people to dismiss technology as a gimmick or take it for granted. When embraced, people will realize that technology can allow them to focus on what matters to them the most, whether it be spending time with family or working on side projects that help them grow their income.
Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve grown much more appreciation for technology and its applications to my life. Technology has opened up doors for me and brought new opportunities and experiences into my life. I can’t possibly imagine my life without it. I’m a technophile. And you know what? I’m okay with that.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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