I’m writing this at the end of a decade in which technology has made enormous leaps. My
daily life has been transformed by a number of new breakthroughs, so that what is normal
to me now would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
To begin with, consider the whole area of mobile phones and social networking. In my
pocket as I speak I have a little device which enables me to speak to my friends while I am
on the move, send them messages, and surf the internet. In addition, I can take photos
and send them around the world at the push of a button. Thanks to the spread of social
networking sites I can send and receive information from my friends, read what they have
posted to their profiles and comment on their activities.
Or take music. If my father wanted to listen to a song, he would have had to save up
enough money to buy the record, go to a shop and hope to find it. I, on the other hand,
simply navigate to a website with my mobile phone and the song is mine with a click. I can
carry around my entire music collection in my pocket.
As for the future, I imagine that the next frontier will be that of the written word. In all
probability, in the next few years I will be able to find, download and read any book I want
on a portable device. This will mean it will no longer be necessary for me to carry bags of
books to and from college. What a relief that will be!