Growing up, technology has always been a significant part of my society. In my childhood, having an iPad was the norm and the majority of my friends had them as well. For countless hours, my sister and I would be on an endless amount of apps and play games that involved designing your own cupcake or creating your own world on a digital screen. Technology became so fast-paced that even toys started linking with online websites and brands such as Webkinz and Build-A-Bear. Once you bought one of their fluffy stuffed animals, some kids owned hundreds, you were given an access code. Once given this access code, you have the ability build an account for your animal and be able to interact with other animals that people all around the world owned. Webkinz were a very substantial part of my childhood, as were the countless hours I spent on my iPad or computer designing a fictional life for my animal or playing games on other apps.

Today, technology has become even more consistent and children are spotted in every direction holding a device, whether it be an iPad or an iPhone. They often substitute many different toys for these modern devices. Since a toy may only hold a few opportunities for a child to play with, an iPad holds endless opportunities and allows a child to expand their knowledge of the world and play multiple games within a single screen. Technology is becoming more and more integral to our lives and society today. In restaurants and shopping through malls, you can observe small children in strollers, their eyes glued to an iPad or another electronic device. Parents believe that giving their child a device like this will keep them quiet and distract them for long periods of time, as well as preventing them from getting into trouble. During my childhood, being outdoors was a significant part of my life, bearing some of my most treasured life moments. In this society, children are less prone is be playing outdoors and are just seen as sitting in their rooms staring at screens all day, sometimes without a single human interaction. Yes, I used an iPad a lot as a child, but there was definitely a balance between being outdoors and being online for me. My parents took action and authorized when my sister and I were allowed to have “screen time”. They also tried to minimize how much television we watched. As of now, it is natural for a child to consistently be playing on a device, and parents are no longer trying to stop them from spending their whole childhood playing on apps or watching television.

Although it may seem that I am shaming the existence of technology’s impact on society, I do believe that technology has had a lot to offer the world, both throughout history and in our lives today. In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which was an important milestone in history. This allowed a cheaper and more innovative solution to create books and ensure that other written articles would be spread and popularized. As for today, medical technology also has created extraordinary success by being able to create devices such as the bio artificial liver device, invented in 2001 by Kenneth Matsumara. These two inventions are only a small percentage of the technology that has helped to aid society and save lives.