Does technology improve or diminish from childhood?

When I was a kid I remember spending most of my time outside running, and  riding bikes. While outside we used our imagination and found many ways to entertain ourselves. The biggest thing was we were outside moving around and getting exercise. I never remember being bored while playing outside unless I was stuck inside because of weather like rain or snow

In contrast If I sent my kids outside they think that I am punishing them. They would rather be inside staring at their phone’s watching YouTube, or other electronic devices. Some days my son will move from the PlayStation to the computer to the couch and play on his phone. He is never very far from some type of technology. The only exercise he gets is moving from one place to another. The kids kind of remind me of the people in the movie Wall-E, they get little to know exercise and I do not believe that is good for their health.
I have been thinking about inducing an 8-hour period where there are not electronics each weekend. I am not anti-electronics, I believe that they are great tools and make life easier. It is nice to search Google and find answers to questions being able to check accounts on the fly. I just wonder if there is a good balance between tech and no tech. The biggest thing is that I want my kids to have full lives, not just watch them waste away on the couch playing video games or playing on their phones.
Growing up we used our imaginations, we would go outside and invent games, or run around, jump on trampolines. Nowadays it seems our kids are lacking in imagination. I told my kids to go outside and figure something to do with no phones, they grumbled and acted pissed off. I went outside to check on them they were all sitting on the porch and on the patio doing nothing, just waiting to be able to come back inside.

The pros of electronics

1. Entertaining
2. Information
3. Making life easier
4. Access to others friends/family
5. Sharing information and pictures with relative’s that live far away.
6. Online Gaming
7. Online shopping

The cons of electronics

1. Clouds the mind
2. Promotes laziness
3. Feeds into people's need for instant gratification
4. Kids have no interaction with each other or other members of the family
5. Online Shopping

I have watched families while out to dinner with my own. You will see every member of The family looking down at their phones while they wait for the staff to bring food or drinks to the table. There is no interaction between the family. This concerns me because i read a study that said if you spend dinner every night as a family interacting then you children are less likely to be in trouble with the law. We have a rule at our house no phones at the table, and the kids have to tell us something they learned every night before they are allowed to leave the table.

When I dive my kids places they don’t look up from their phone to see where they are going. The problem is that when they start driving the may not know how to get to places in town, or anywhere else. You see so many people getting into accidents looking at their phone or texting while driving due to people's obsession with knowing what is going on.

Does Technology make a vacation better?

There are many types of technology to day that can possibly enhance a vacation. Google maps and Google Navigation are too of the tools that can make a getting to you destination easier. The benefit of Google maps is that it gives time estimate on how long it will to arrive at your destination and it also gives you turn by turn direction which is fairly accurate. The problem with Google maps is that if you accidentally shut it off and there is no internet you may not be able to get back on track so even if you are using Google map you may want to consider bringing along a traditional paper map. Technology wins this one paper maps are cumbersome.

The next thing to consider is restaurant review apps like Yelp and Google now. You can check these apps and see how other people have reviewed restaurants in the area that you are visiting. The problems with the reviews that people place are that it is their personal opinion and their taste may not be the same as yours. You can also skip the app and just ask the people working at the hotel that you are staying at where they like to eat or you may want to skip the technology all together and just eat at a restaurant chain that you already like. Using the low tech approach maybe the best option when trying finding a restaurant to eat at while on vacation. 

The option to take an additional camera with you while on vacation. The last few vacations that I have been on I have taken a digital camera with me and have not used the camera relying on my cell phone camera. The problem with taking an extra camera is that you have to carry more items with you while in most cases I will already be carrying my cell phone and the cameras on cell phone are much better than they were just a couple of years ago, and if you want to post photos on to social media they are already on a device that can do that with no need to transfer them to another device. Technology wins again carrying more stuff is never good unless you are looking for higher quality pictures.

 Technology does make vacations better in my opinion leave a commit below tell me what you opinion. 

Life and Technology

Is technology too invasive?

Is George Orwell's book 1984 coming true is big brother watching our every move. More today than ever it seems like technology is tracking everything that we are doing in our daily life. Our cell phones track our locations and offer us suggestions like places to eat and reviews of other businesses that are close by. According to www.techtimes.com devices now outnumber people on the planet. Each device is reporting its location giving suggestions. Devices communicate with each other, phones can tell the thermometer in her your home that you have woke up and can automatically adjust the temperature to a desired level. Pictures taken on a cell phone have a geo-location stamp that tells where the picture was taken and if they are posted on a social media site, a stranger may be able to find the location of your home. Everything is tracked including the searches that an individual makes on the web.

The question is the convenience worth the invasion of your privacy. The tracking makes many things better and faster.  Web searches will be better and faster, searches will give you results