Digital lifestyle means more than gadgets

Little by little, technology has changed the world. Like it or not, we live in a digital world and our lifestyles are becoming increasingly digital, but in ways that go far beyond the latest gadgets on offer in the consumer electronics market.

Technology enables us to do things that we either thought impossible or extremely difficult for previous generations to do.

Is this a good thing? In the main, probably yes, but as with most things in life, technology is open to abuse. The tremendous opportunities technological innovation has brought are as open to you and me as to terrorist organisations and porn traffickers.

Technological convergence around the Internet has probably made the most impact on the way we live our daily lives.

We are able to document our lives in ways never imagined in the past and choose to expose as much of that as we like to a global audience.

Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor

It has certainly changed the lives of journalists, for whom the mobile PC provides a means to produce and file stories from wherever they are and access millions of data sources on the Internet. It is also a means to communicate with anyone via e-mail and SMS, carry out bank transactions and confirm airline bookings from a variety of locations.

Although we are lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to Internet access, recent developments in wireless connectivity mean that even people in relatively remote parts of the country have direct access to the world.

Unlike previous generations, we can participate in global arenas with astounding ease. This was brought home to me this week when I signed up, literally in a few minutes, to a new blogging service aimed specifically at South Africans, and published a blog entry not long afterwards that was accessible from anywhere in the world via the Internet.

Just like that, I had walked onto the international stage. This is what the digital lifestyle is all about. We are able to document our lives in ways never imagined in the past and choose to expose as much of that as we like to a global audience.

Blogging software allows people with little or no technical background to publish just about anything on the Internet, bypassing all traditional obstacles and gate-keeping mechanisms associated with publishing.

Although I am still not convinced of the value of blogging that makes personal journals available on the Web and panders to complementary exhibitionist and voyeuristic tendencies, there is definitely value in being able to share personal knowledge and insight.

Sharing information around topics of special interest with a community of like-minded people from around the world can be extremely positive.

According to researchers, cultural blogs that discuss music, sports, theatre, other arts and popular culture are among the best read.

Blogs have also had an influence on minority languages by bringing together scattered speakers and learners, which was part of the inspiration of the South African iBlog site that is to be available in all 11 South African official languages in the next six to 12 months.

In the pre-digital world, minority language publishing was generally not feasible from an economic point of view, but thanks to technology, that is no longer an impediment.

Getting real about the effect technology has had on our lives is realising that even we South Africans are finally living in a global village that speaks our language.