The age of information technology has taken a lot of people by surprise. While it has become a way of life for some, others know very little about it. Eventually we will have a polarised society and this will lead to serious social problems. Form an opinion based on the info above and write a well-reasoned essay.
21st century is the age of information technology. With the advent of computers we are able to perform complicated calculations and tedious work in matter of seconds. While some have embraced this technology, others seem to be naïve about it. This has resulted in a divide of the society which requires serious introspection and remedy.
Back in the 60s, renowned author Alvin Tofler had predicted, in his book ‘Future Shock’, that if societies did not learn to quickly adapt to the changes thrown by the information era, they would disintegrate and that it might result in social unrest. He further argued that the information era could be a shock for many as they would not know how to react to the fast changes in their life brought by computers. Tofler had substantiated his prediction on the basis of Mooere’s law, which stated that computing power would double itself in every 18 months. This book had opened the eyes of many societies across the world. While most developed nations quickly reacted by bringing in major changes in their education and work systems, it took some time for the developing world to catch up.
Most developing nations today have a distinct working urban middle class who are tech savvy, use smart phones and internet, while the rural people, which make up to 70 percent of the total population, do not have access to such hi-end technology. Sociologists opine that this divide can be detrimental in the long run, as it may result in fragmented population with prominent regional issues.
There could be many solutions to this problem. However, the best one would be to increase computer literacy amongst rural people. Government or non-governmental organizations could take up vocational training in rural areas and promote e-governance as a tool to address grievance of farmers and peasants. Even schools could introduce information technology as a subject from an early age as that would attract children to use computers. Hardware could be made cheaper by offering tax benefits and easy finance schemes. This will ensure ease of affordability of technology by the financially challenged.
Information technology is slowly becoming an integral part of our life. In near future, computers will be ubiquitous. Like water or electricity we will not feel its presence, only when it is not there we will feel. Therefore, each member of the society needs to make information technology a way of their life or else social calamity is inevitable.