I have an iPhone 6 Plus

“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home,” said Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corporation at the end of the Convention of World Future in 1977.

Boy, was he wrong!

I have just purchased a new iPhone 6 Plus and I am now in cyber heaven. It does everything but make my bed. It sings, it beeps and trumpets as incoming messages, emails, and other assorted information assails from afar.

I can Facebook, Tweet and twirk to my heart’s content all from the comfort of my lounge chair.

I have a new Apple Mac laptop, iPad, iPod and media player and they all talk to each other so it doesn’t matter which appliance I use, the information will be there. How cool is that?

I can read books in the dark of night while my husband snores up a storm beside me. I can talk in real-time to my grandchildren in the four corners of the earth. I can shop, pay bills, research and listen to music. All because I have embraced (or in some instances had it forced upon me) new and developing technology.

We live in an age of constant amazement. I hear people reminiscing about the ‘old days’ and how things were better then. In some instances, this may be true but it is science and technology that has seen the most incredible growth.

I have recently retired from teaching but I do relieve when staff are absent, so I have forced myself to keep up-to-date with technology and not to view it with horror, as some of the over-60s do.

While embracing this growth, I also laugh at what has passed before us as communication before.

Remember dial-up internet, listening intently while the computer beeped a serenade to connection; or being totally frustrated because you wanted to use the internet but your mum was busy talking on the telephone.

How horrifying it was to discover your favourite show on VHS has been tapped over before you could watch it; the old trick of using a pencil to rewind tape that had exploded from its spool in a tangled mess; horror at making a mistake on the last sentence of your carbon-encrusted letter only to have to redo it before submitting to your boss of his signature and your disbelief at the gouging scratches raked across your favourite Beatles vinyl record.

While the use of emerging technologies in the medical field, science and transport is growing everyday, I don’t know if I am yet comfortable with the idea of letting my car drive itself.

When I really analyse technology and its role in modern society, I realise that we have given ourselves over to technology.

The other day, I was out shopping when the internet in our region was down for a couple of hours. Oh the drama! The registers in the supermarket were not working so nobody to make purchases, I couldn’t use the ATM or query my medical history at the Medicare office and finally no petrol.

It made me realise that although the advances in technology are wonderful and enhance our lives in many ways, it also gives away our control.

Welcome the robots that are coming our way but be wary, very wary!

What are your thoughts on how technology has changed the way we do things? How well do you embrace the technology around you? Share your thoughts with us.

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