We are from a generation that is highly dependent on technology. It’s very difficult to go about our daily activities without using some form of technology. Whether you are riding the bus to class, taking notes from a projector during class or driving to work, technology is everywhere. However, all these things are normal in today’s society. What’s strange is when we become dependent on technology so much that the simple pleasures in life are no more. Twelve years ago, we didn’t have iPods and most of us still read actual books and newspapers. What will happen in the next 12 years?

The growth of technology within the past two decades has been astonishing. Although Apple’s first Macintosh computer was slightly before our time, manufactured in 1984, I remember that big, gray box of a computer sitting in my basement. Then, in elementary school, we were blessed with the iMac G3s that came in different colors. One of my fondest memories from middle school is getting sent to the principal’s office for getting into a fight with a girl over the pink one. Seriously. Hair was pulled. See? Technology was already causing problems. Then, it started a social hierarchy.

Remember when cellphones were only used for calling people? Me neither. At my high school, you were deemed uncool if you didn’t have a cellphone. I got my first cellphone when I was 14 (a sleek, red Motorola RAZR), which was only to be used for “emergencies.” That policy didn’t last long. The day I got my unlimited texting plan was the happiest day of my life. If I told somebody today they could only send 250 text messages per month, they’d probably have a heart attack. Then, the era of smartphones began.

I don’t consider myself to be very technologically capable. I was one of the chumps who thought it would be a good idea to get a Blackberry Curve for my first smartphone, and it was the worst seven months of my life until I discovered that phones typically don’t survive if they become submerged in water. I’m also one of the people who considers all smartphones to be the same and just buy the one that’s the shiniest.

What I really don’t understand is why companies continue to update their products when there really wasn’t anything wrong with it in the first place. (I’m looking at you, Apple.) When I did my research on the new features of the iPhone 5, all I got out of it was that it has a bigger screen and a new 4G network. So why is it so much better than the 4S? If Apple keeps making the iPhone bigger, by the time we get to the iPhone 10, the phone will be the size of a dining room table and might even be able to drive our cars.

The bottom-line question is: Are all these updates and new products really necessary? As somebody who finds it impossible to go 10 minutes without my iPhone, I’d say yes. Somewhere down the line our society became so dependent on mobile technology that we’re completely forgetting the simple joys in life. Trips to Barnes & Noble are now less common than downloading a book on your Kindle, Nook, etc.

According to a study done by National Safety Council, the number of car accidents related to cellphones is at least 1.6 million and growing because people just can’t wait until they’re stopped or at home to answer a call or message.

Needless to say, our society has a love/hate relationship with technology. My challenge to you before it gets too frigid out is to give yourself half an hour without your phone, computer, etc., and go outside to watch the clouds go by and think about the little things in your life that make you happy. It’ll put things in perspective, and you might even get a nap out of it. It’s the simple things in life that make us the happiest.