We all live in a technologically advanced world. The world is advancing at a very rapid pace. Technology, the youngest son of science is taking us forward. Every sunrise brings about new technologies, that may or may not have the potential to change the human race. The past decade saw technology influencing our lives in tremendous ways.
The most significant advances occured in information technology. The I.T boom was like a second industrial revolution. An electronic device that has the potential to do almost anything. The computer changed almost all walks of life. From household office works to corporate business works, a computer eased the effort of man. If a single computer can do so many things, then what will be the case, if a group of computers are connected together. This led to the world wide network of computers, alias, INTERNET. From static web pages at the beginning, to the interactive social networking sites today, internet's growth was simply marvellous. Now, it is used for banking, chatting, acquiring knowledge, shopping and a variety of other purposes. The world is getting more and more closer.
The internet has become an integral part of our lives today. We rely on it. This led to various innovations centred around the internet. Software and hardware developers across the world are developing systems that are based on the internet. More and more applications are being developed to bring almost every real worldly thing to the internet's virtual world. A new branch of technology, bio-informatics is trying to converge biology and information technology. Put simply, they are on the way of bringing life to the internet. We are being more and ore web-centric. Technologies, aimed at reducing the gap between real and virtual worlds are in their beta, or alpha states. They aim at integrating human beings into the web.
So, our future will be a virtual one. But, is it necessary? Or, is it what we really need? My answer is an emphatic NO. The reason is that, those who are developing such technologies are only interested in the advantages of the system. They cunningly try to cover up the problems associated with it. These technologies usually have a fun or fiction factor. They were the fantasies of which we once dreamed about. So, when we first see this technology, we will be instantly attracted to it. We will praise it. But, the problem is that, as technology grew bigger, so did the criminals. From crimes like theft or murder, criminals have migrated to cyber thefts, hacking, cyber-terrorism etc. The real shocking fact about such cyber crimes is that, the criminals are just teenagers, with a sharp digital brain. The new technologies are instantly analysed by them to exploit it's weaknesses to make profit out of it. They will resort to any method for their benefit.
Technology is supposed to be the friend of man, a true friend. He should not harm us in any way. It is the responsibility of the future engineers to develop technologies that benefit mankind. It should be for our benefit only. It should not in any case pose a threat to us. While developing newer technologies, some basic ethics should be kept in mind. Man is more important than machine. Develop technologies from a humanitarian point of view. It is not the entertainment or commercial value of technology, that is important. Be more human centric. Think of all possible pros and cons of the technology, while it is just an idea in your mind. It is rather good to kill an idea, than to kill the entire human race. For the future to be bright and shining, we must filter out all the evils in our technology. That's the only way out of this never-ending web of evil.
