Supposing you woke up one morning to find that your Mobile network won't come up; the internet just stopped working; automated teller machines won't dispense or transfer cash; the electricity source came down (don't worry, this particular one is no big deal in Nigeria); in fact, supposing you're realizing that every form of technological aided communication and their source, is hampered for unforeseen reasons; what would you do? 

By Gloria Okezie-Okafor

For more than 3-4hours my mobile line and internet connection wouldn't work while I sweated before the white screen, trying to get some things done; this thought popped into my head: it was the thought of how our forefathers have lived in the primitive days with no Technology.

My network provider just went out of service, while I waited patiently for the reconnection. I was in the process of saving a file and had become scared I might loose it since the service wasn't coming fast. This was how I began to paint a picture in my mind of what this would look like if it happened on a massive scale - like the whole world suddenly going out on mobile network and internet service for just one whole day.

Seriously, Digital technology (young though as it is, and much younger in Africa), has saved the day and made our world in the 21st century, very livable. Compared to past times when people struggled to do things, and when things took a longer time to get done; today, we operate everything at the snap of a finger. 

Back then, one has to go to the cyber Cafe to do things on the internet. And those days connections can be very slow and draggy; plus you must have some skills for desktop computers, or pay the attendant to guide you. Today things have changed. Even my four year-plus old knows quite some around a mobile phone. 

Let us presume no one could make a call across the world for some unforeseen reason that has to do with the telecommunication system across the world crashing at the same time - I know some people would be like: this is not possible…but it is technology isn't it; which means anything is possible. 

Okay. What if the ATM of all banks can't transfer or dispense cash; and online payment apps (including POS) fail to work - in a whole 24hours. What if control systems of airports, seaports, train stations, and what have you, failed to work, because of something they call 'technological relapse…if there's anything like that. 

The whole idea is: what if we went back to the time before the discovery of digital technology, and to something before the analogue system of dialers, fax, typewriters; what do you think would be our experience?

Of course people survived those times, and it is likely we would survive them. But the people of those times have no taste of the digital world; so if we went back to those times, how would it feel? 

My Point? 

The world is one big primitive place without the digital technological revolution. The discovery of the digital system is in fact the biggest breakthrough in human civilization. It was this discovery that shattered the barriers and made the entire space into a global world; bringing people and their races together. 

What Does This Mean For Me and You? 

It means the good, the bad, and the ugly. Digital technologies have made breakthroughs, but there also are inherent evils. 

Technology was made by man, for man; and it can fail. Remember the Y2K propaganda - there the whole world was put on her toes that the computer systems would crash; and nations out of panic lost good money to the mongers, in their bid to save an ugly possibility. Today, we pretend such things are not possible. 

Hence, with the mobile phone and internet connection, human physical interaction has become an option. You can decide who you meet on a one-on-one, or who you don't meet. You decide if you would show up physically at an event, or if a video conferencing favors you the most. The world, now exists at the tip of your finger and you control your activities with people and places the way you want. 

This way of relating - in most cases - has put a strain on how we see one another. No wonder it is now a virtual world. 

The One Touch Generation:

With my mobile phone, I decide who to call or what message to read; I decide if I would attend an event or not; I don't have to queue up in bank to receive or send money; I don't even have to be in a place to deliver a parcel or receive one; I wouldn't find it difficult tracing my way around a new environment. In fact, I don't need anybody to guide me; with one touch I can do whatever I want, or get to wherever I wish. 

In the past, things like these would have taken the older generation days, maybe weeks, if not months, to achieve. Today we take for granted the things we have, and the ease by which we enjoy them. We believe it is our birthright. But someone, or some people thought out these innovations to make life this easy. 

Today, I don't even have to go to the library to study or read volumes of books. I can carry a whole library in a small piece of mobile device. Thanks to digital technology. 

But What About The Hazards, Or Ain't There Any?

Digital tech has made a lot of us lazy, unfeeling, and what have you. Plus, talk about all the radiations as they say. Some of us are so addicted to the digital world such that we are enmeshed in its magnetic effect. For those of us who do a lot of screen touch, we are exposed to a lot of white lights entering our eyes - sometimes we are in such a state where we cannot use the screen shield or even dim the brightness. Over time this results in blur vision. 

Some of us even have to sit on a spot for several hours, and we end up being obese; and then suffer other health issues - like blood pressures, stroke, migraine or any of such diseases. We are just simply under the dictate of technology where we have no control of it. 

What About The Cost In Terms Of Money:

The Digital technologies - whether mobile communication, internet, or the like - saps us of hundreds of thousands of currencies on a day-to-day basis. Some of us though, make money through this medium; others don't. So the negative effect on money is relative. 

And Our Relationships?

I know some spouses who do not live together. They maintain a virtual relationship. And society sees nothing wrong with this as long as it's working for them. Many of these relationships had to break up because the emotions were gone - or someone else was able to fill that space. 

On other instance, there are those who contracted relationships via the telephone or the internet; and did not do any further investigation on the person they got involved with. Whereas such relationship had worked for many, there were those who became victim in it.

The results of these have often been depression, health issues, and in extreme cases suicide. The list of course can be endless. 

Important Information are Saved Online (even the government and big companies keep datas in clouds):

These information have to be constantly protected and monitored from hackers and loss. While it looked safe there, it can equally be tampered with, especially if it gets into the wrong hands. That's how fragile the system is. 

You Are Not Alone:

This technology which makes our lives more meaningful on individual and small group levels, also has enormous use by big corporations and governments. So much is being eased off of them by digital technology. And they equally have risk factors as mentioned above - talk about something bad happening. Manpower is involved, and money is at stake; not to mention secrecy - losing vital info. 

To mobile devices and all forms of digital tech, we have become junkies; the natural ways of doing things just seem very impossible. To ask us to do away with these would be like taking us back to primitive times - and many of us wouldn't stand that. 

Today, aside from digital advancement, we have another called Artificial Intelligence or AI - obviously some people are bent on taking the place of human activities and giving them to robotics. It's all in the story of digitization. 

Anyway, my mobile network was finally restored, and I finished with what I was doing - but the delay was not funny. 

Thank God we are not in the primitive days; how would I have been able to manage that.