We all love our tech devices. I know I’m guilty of it. The fact of having an always-on approach is something that was dreamed about many years ago. Now…..that very concept may be for better or worse.

In my defense, I work in the tech industry, so the always-on web and tech approach never stops, personally and professionally. However, some, like my parents who are old school, do not particularly care about advanced tech like that. So where I come in at times is the matter of being the teacher: providing advice and services to whatever problems they have. The same has been done with clients who are not as tech-savvy, as well as some who are. If I had a crystal ball to predict the future, I would seem pretty confident to say that those who are not as tech-savvy could be in some serious trouble later down the road.

There’s been an ongoing fear of jobs being lost in the United States and around the world. The thing about that is the better technology gets, the more automation is used in business, the likely it’s the culprit of the reason why jobs get lost. Automation is usually the cost-cutting ‘solution’ (or excuse) to many issues surrounding businesses, including those overseas. You may have already seen the use of drones from Amazon delivering small packages to certain areas in a neighborhood. Who’s to say that the delivery of small packages could end up being your daily mail sent to your residence in the near future? Or even groceries? This idea isn’t too farfetched and certainly not a far distant idea to implement.

There have been older folks who reminisce about the ‘good ol’ days’ of writing things on a piece of paper or listening to the radio or talking on a landline telephone. All those are respected, no doubt. However, technology has moved so rapidly fast that the old timers simply can’t keep up. What those items mentioned had was longevity before the new tech started coming through. Computers were only for business people. Now, the average kid can play on a tablet before they learn how to properly read at a grade-school level.

Some will definitely make the argument that, “Hey, all these people with their phones stuck to the face are part of the problem with what’s wrong with society nowadays. They don’t interact anymore!” This is a legitimate issue, no question, and I empathize with those who feel that way. Sometimes it does get a little bit out of control when you have all these folks glued to the phone all the time. I’m certainly guilty of that, in addition to the computer.  But the reality of it all is, tech is here to stay. You simply can’t undo what’s been done. It has become an accepting force of habit to be always-on all the time. Now, unless something tragic happens, say, an accident that involves being distracted by the use of tech, it will never be just a self-awareness situation where everyone will just follow suit. Maybe after the fact, but we, as a society, have got to accept that tech is now and the future.

What I would like to see is the deal of having a true balance between trying to turn off and back on again. I don’t need to be on 24/7 like that, although my line of work may want me to. This goes back to the automation topic. Robots don’t necessarily need a break. Because they have no ‘feelings’. So a robot can work and work and work until something goes out of fix or a error occurs……or those that use them are simply looking for a better model. But people need rest in order to properly function well. That means turning off the social media every so often or taking a break from the text messaging. We don’t want to become androids, do we?

I grew up on tech. Video games was one of the more important things in the childhood, next to pizza, basketball and others. I went to school for tech. Before that, I was involved in computer multimedia and computer science. I’ve been almost full-time with tech personally and professionally for the better part of 17 years.

That said, tech is a unique commodity. There can be an addiction. I know I MAY have it, but I also try to spend some time AWAY from tech. Not going off-the-grid kind of approach, but at least spending a couple hours off and on a day without gluing my face to a screen (TV, computer, tablet, phone, etc.) My parents used to do that easily. My grandparents did the same. I’m not as old-school as them, but I do want to take the necessary approaches to at least plug off for rest and relaxation, even though the temptation to stay on always stays in place. I want to hear myself think in my thoughts, not spend all of the time typing out thoughts on social media. I’m aware of the dangers of what tech can do. I’m not sure what the government can do to either help or prevent the dangers of tech in general, but we all need to come to some sort of agreement that tech is our future whether we like it or not. But we do not need it to run our entire lives.

I would just hope that the tech industry can still be impactful with being a resource in efforts to save lives and educate people. But not if it comes with major setbacks that could actually hurt more than it could help. The last thing I would want to see is jobs being lost to tech or folks getting in trouble or hurt due to tech. I understand that innovation is a way of life, but at the same time, how good can that be if tech runs everything all the time while losing the ability to think for ourselves?

The world needs technology, yes, but only if we, the people, can work side-by-side with it…..and not become it.