“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” With a minor alteration in tense, from past to present, this quote from Sir Charles Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities” succinctly describes the current state of our world. Indeed, we ARE living in the best of times and in the worst of times.
Thanks to advances in technology, we can accomplish many things far more quickly and efficiently, than we did 50 years ago. Still, in many ways, life has become far more complicated. In this commentary, I draw on some of the upsides and downsides of advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to reinforce Dickens’ point.
There can be no denying that modern ICT has dramatically increased the speed and efficiency of doing things. For example, as recently as the 1960s, the predominant way of corresponding was through handwritten or typed letters which were placed in stamped envelopes, taken to the post office and sent to addressees via surface or air mail. Over time, we have become addicted to, and almost totally dependent on the Internet of Things (IoT).
Nowadays, we have the luxury of using our computers and personal electronic devices (PEDs) to communicate in real time with multiple people around the world, from our offices, homes, a.