Computers and Instant Society

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omputers and instant society, two subjects that don't seem to go together. But on the contrary they do or at least I think so. I believe that computers have made us, as humans, more impatient. Stop and think about it for a moment the faster the computer the happier we are right? And as computers progressively pick up their processing speed we become more impatient and want things even faster.

I have worked with a computer of some sort since, I think the year was 1981, first grade. Some of you may remember the special computers that schools had to help some students learn their reading. If not you were most likely one of the students I called smart back then. Yes you guessed I was one of those students that needed a little extra help in the beginning, mostly with the vowels and other letters that sounded the same, my mind just couldn't grasp the differences when I started to learn.

Boy, am I off topic. Oh well, back to the subject at hand computers and instant society.

In '81 I worked with the large slow computers. I didn't see a computer again until about 1985 when the school system I was in decided to make a computer class part of the education for students. Those were the old Apple II's, and I thought that it was a fast computer not to mention the coolest thing in the world. After that I didn't really work on a computer again until right around 1991, my Junior year in high school and it was the same Apple II computers that I learned on back in '85.

Now however I look back and am amazed at how we managed to accomplish anything on those computers that we (society) call antiques. But that's the point I'm trying to make we have gotten to be in such a hurry that we want things instantly and computers, or rather technology as a whole, has just increased our desire for instant wanting or needing.

Think back about 5 years ago or so when the turn of a new century was about to come and how we were scared. We were worried or scared that we would lose our precious computers because they may not have been able to handle the year 2000. That never happened though and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

What would happen if all the computers did for some reason quit working? Would society, production, and communications come to a grinding halt? Would we still want things instantly or would we learn patients?

Personally I'm not really sure what would happen to society. I do know that I would be lost for a day or two, simply because I have become accustomed to the technology around me, us, society. How about you how would you react if technology just stopped working?