"Technology: Friend or Foe"?

"Technology: Friend or Foe"?
As we approach the new millenium, it has become obvious that more than ever before, we need technology. And yet every new technology places new demands upon us creating new forms of frustration and stress. We can not live with it, but we can not live without it. If we fail to conform ourselves, will we remain the ignorant victims of the computer age? Will we become its slave? This is the focus of this paper.
We have learned from our readings that the Luddites learned about the technology that was being abused in their time. They worked on the cotton gin machines and were skilled technicians. They understood that it was not the power of a useful machine they were fighting but the power of those who mismanaged it. The same can be said for the management of computer technology. There is not doubt that computer technology has become central to the operation of global multinationals, financial markets, security surveillance, and as well as everyday life. There is little we can do with a computer interface device that will preserve our identity. Governments acting as a global police force protecting us from ourselves can easily monitor the electronic trail of commands and transactions.
Perhaps the Luddites could see farther into the future than anyone suspected. With regards to the downfall of technology and the role it would play on people's lives, as they became dependent upon technology for survival. Let's take for example the huge technological dilemma of the fast approaching twenty-first century; the issues
surrounding Y2K. It has been feared that people's lives will be totally devastated, as the technology they have grown to depend on will suddenly fail them on January 1, 2000. It is thought by many that all of the technology that we have come to depend upon for survival will cease to function successfully. The cars which we depend on for travel, the coffee we depend on to start our day, the electronically controlled furnaces we...