In 2017 two new iPhones were debuted, a new mac, many new Samsungs–the list goes on and on. Companies are constantly competing with each other to find the newest and fastest technology to offer to customers. Each customer searches for the fastest internet, best connection, biggest storage–anything that gives them a better phone. Many people even treat their phones and technology like a body part, making a point to take care of it and missing it when it’s gone. Why is this and how does it make it different from past generations?

Being Millennials, our parents and even their parents had far less access to technology than we did. This means that they had a very different experience growing up than we did. Where we can call or text our parents to check in, our parents had to physically go home or use a landline to call. This change in some ways gives us more freedom and in other ways constricts us, but one thing is for sure, we are extremely reliant on technology.

In our daily lives, our phones wake us up like alarms, play our music like our radios, tell us the time like our clocks, do math like our calculators–the list goes on and on. Of course, instead of using our phones, says Jessica Ryan (11), “we could actually use an alarm clock or calculator, but it is so much harder” to transition from one universal device to multiple individual ones. This creates a higher demand for the newer advanced technology, compared to the out of date technology that is increasingly fading to the background.

Despite all the great things technology have to offer, there is also many downsides. Millennials spend more time than any other generation staring at a screen. Whether it is watching Netflix, taking snapchats, scrolling through twitter, or even laughing at funny cat videos, we spend hours upon hours tapping at our little devices. This means that all those hours on our phones are also hours that we aren’t exercising or learning.

Although technology could hypothetically take away from your quality of life, it can also add to it. On your phone, computer, or tablet you can download books to read, apps to learn, or videos to study. You could also use your device as a sort of personal trainer. All of these things help aid you in different aspects of your life that normally wouldn’t involve technology.

Our parents survived the majority of their lives without the same level of high-tech technology that we possess today, but luckily you don’t have to. Technology can be a good and bad thing, but it is up to you. You can make the decision to use technology as a positive influence in your life rather than a  weight holding you back, but unless you make the decision on your own it won’t help. So make the decision, download those apps, and get working!