The advancement in technology has been so rapid in the last decade of so that adult life seems impossible without so many things. I am a millennial from the landline era, for crying out loud. But still I cannot think of life without a few technological innovations. They are not so new, yet life unimaginable without them. Now, I wonder how did I even live my life without these virtual contraptions.
1. Google maps
Life before Google maps was not knowing the route to the airport despite having gone there so frequently. A new city and my GPS challenged mind ensured that I hardly had any idea how to get to the airport. If the taxi guy did not know, I was as good as screwed. I only vaguely knew the turns.
But now, the first thing that comes to mind is Google maps. the first thing I do now when I come across something new is to look it up on Google maps. The traffic, the route, the distance can be mapped in a matter of seconds. How did I even travel without availability of my co-ordinates at the tip of my fingers!!
2. Google Search
I have lost count of the number of times in a day, yeah! a day, I open google to look up something. This is a magical genie that knows about every thing. There is no information that is not at the tip of my fingers. All questions can be answered and doubts cleared using this one service. Books, places, people, restaurants are my most common searches - in that order. And it never disappoints!
If I had this during my college, studying would have been so much easier. All the info right there to be read and saved, No endless photocopying and saving all that physical material to study for the exams. What a revolution! Although my college time missed this innovation, the rest of my life is not too late to Google about. Another thing I cannot imagine my life without.
3. Taxi services
Standing in the rain for hours trying to get an auto is my memory before Olas and Ubers became an ubiquitous part of our lives. In fact, when I was training for a leading bank, travel was my biggest challenge. It seems anachronistic to say this was a time when Ola and Uber were not invented.
And now, I know that long distance travel can be comfortably done in a cab using Google maps so I stick to the right route! What a luxury. At least the availability of this option assures that I never will have to struggle for a ride. Except when one needs a cab to the airport and is short of time!!
4. Google Pay
This is the most recent entry into my life. I resisted this one for the longest time since I did not want to leave online trails of my bank account. And I wish I had let it stay that way so I wouldn't get duped online through my own Gpay! *Eye roll* But this is an easier way to pay online without having to use credit cards. I have come to be comfortable with this method with passing time. It's at least one of the easier ways to make payments straight from the bank account.
5. Online grocery shopping
Gone are the days when we carried cloth bags to the vegetable market - ironically I carried one to the market just last week to buy fruits - but then this is not the only way to but vegetables and groceries. Thanks to the pandemic, online grocery shopping has become common place in every household. This is one thing that I am thankful for instead og having to lug bags into a rickshaw and lugging hem up to the house. I have hated that kind of grocery shopping forever.
Online shopping is so much easier and convenient. I just need to click things into the cart. No stepping out or lugging things up and about. And this method of shopping has only gotten better with time. Earlier one had to wait an hour. But with multiple services promising 10-minute services, there is hardly any wait between ordering and the stuff being delivered. I think the marvel that technology is is finally here at our door steps.
6. Zoom/video conferencing
Another thing that the pandemic has made ubiquitous in our lives. I am always surprised to think that I do not have to step out to work. There are no geographical boundaries for my clients.
Earlier, no one wanted to work together unless it was the same city. The idea of virtual meetings was alien and people were not open to them. But now, despite the world having opened, we pass around virtual meeting links to get our work done. Fast and effective, this is one gift of technology which has truly revolutionised the work world for good.
For an entrepreneur like me, I can sit at home and work with anyone in the world. The sky is literally the limit while looking for clients.
I do miss the physical interaction the int higher frequency of offline events. But real work does get dome through Zoom and equivalent platforms. And that's a great thing.
7. AI/ChatGPT
The power of AI is unveiling right before our eyes. I no longer need to google things and look for links that night give me the info I need. ChatGPT is the new genie that just spouts the info I need. This takes Seek and you shall find" to a whole literal level. From 200 calorie meal plan to the content for your landing page, there is no command that AI cannot carry out. Although humans will be required to write the prompts, the power of AI to do enormous amount of work for us in no time is a true testimony to what all technology can do for us. It's a new milestone in how many can manipulate the machine to do our bidding.
Where AI will take us and where its limit is, only time can tell. But write now we can ride the power wave of this new fangled innovation at our finger tips that can do anything for us.
What else comes to your mind when you think of technology you cannot live without?
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