Effects of Using Technology in Our Everyday Lives - Assignment Example

In simple terms, it views a society like an engine: it is formed by many, smaller units to form a working engine. For example, the family as the smallest unit of society, functions as a maker of children, who are future taxpayers. The family is also a source of taxes and these taxes are used to send the said children to school, who will learn how to be teachers and doctors (for example), and then serve the new generation of children as teachers and doctors. They become taxpayers as well, and make their own families.

Everything in the society has a function, and under the right circumstances, the society will become orderly, productive and stable. According to the video (Jones, 2011), technology has many cons, but of has some pros too, like the convenience of shopping with virtual money. Some people would also give out iPads to toddlers as an educational tool (Worley, 2011). In some cases, the government takes action: in California, the government officials are very keen to connect their citizens to internet, or at least narrow the gap between those people with home internet and those without access ((PR Newswire, 2011).

Technology, especially the internet, has brought many opportunities for people, and at a much lesser cost. Consider having a degree online, where you don’t have to commute to go to school, or even job hunting online, where it can both save time and money ((PR Newswire, 2011). This is the thrust of the government of California and indeed, it is true that having a simple internet connection can open a lot of opportunities for the people. Taken into a functionalist perspective, technology would be a gift, especially to business.

Because of the internet, the businessmen could virtually hire new people online and let them work remotely. They do not have to spend much on the office. Same goes for the employee, it would be cheaper for him to go to work online. Shops could also save in their capital when they put up online stores because they do not have to pay the space for the actual shop and the utility bills of the shop. Technology also brings education, and teachers and students can make use of the new media to complement their education.

Technology is cheap, and this is a good thing. Basically, every unit in society can benefit, as a functionalist, technology is good because it boosts all units’ performances, as well as giving the needs of a certain sector of society faster. However, this would also have its cons. As functions abound, so do dysfunctions. For example, in communication: true, technology improved the ways of communication by making it easier to call/text each other but it had also made people, ironically, more distant to each other, preferring virtual socialization over actual ones (Jones, 2011).

Is this better? Another thing is in education: students now are so used to getting all information right from their fingertips. Literally, since all they have to do is to type the words in Google. For all intents and purposes, search engines are very useful, however, most young students take this for granted and take the easy way out by Googling. It is easier, all right, but it also made education less interesting and challenging, and like the iPad for children, it is not very useful at all when it comes to a person’s intellect. 2. Technology and Interactionism Technology, especially in the means of communication, has had a