Is the digital era really good?

The past few years have seen amazing developments in the realm of technology, which allows us to step into the digital era. The Jakarta Post contributor Zatni Arbi talked to people from various walks of life about its impact on them.

JAKARTA (JP): Here is an interesting question that someone asked not so long ago: "How do you explain the meaning of 'counterclockwise' to a kid who grew up with a digital watch?"

Don Tapscott has written a very interesting book titled Growing up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. In it he ponders how the world will be shaped by the young generation who have been playing with and using high-tech toys and tools for most of their lives. Well, it turns out that the world has been turning digital not only for the N-Geners, but also for their parents -- and probably their grandparents.

Whether we agree or not, many of us are now living in the digital world. We are now living a "digital life". What it means is probably a growing dependence on digital devices in an increasing number of the activities that we do every day. As Sanjaya Sugiarto, a regular reader of this newspaper, put it, "Our life in the digital world depends so much on computers and electronics. We use them as tools in our work as well as devices for entertainment." He was responding to an unofficial e-mail survey that we did for this article.

Aleta Hanafia, who works for a PR company in Jakarta, said, "A digital life means a life that is dependent on technology. For example, a cell phone has become a necessity for most of the younger generation."

Needless to say, not all of the world's inhabitants are fortunate enough to be able to participate in the digital transformation. In fact, half of the world's population have never heard the sound of a telephone ring, let alone used a Web browser.

Yet what does a digital life mean to you? To a lot of people, it means instant communication. Lydia Napitupulu, who now lives in the United States, said, "I used to work for an American consulting company. Since Jakarta and Washington DC are 12 hours apart, it was like working around the clock. Once I finished my part, I would zap it over, they would continue with the work or give me their input, and at the end of the day they would zap it back to me again and I would take it up the moment I started working the next day."

Bart Vansteelant, a Belgian IT professional who designs Internet applications and web sites, commented, "Isn't it amazing that I can communicate with you so easily and so instantaneously whereas during Indonesia's colonial time it would have taken at least three months to get some news from Europe to Jakarta? That is clearly one of the advantages of the digital revolution."

Not only is communication in the digital world so fast, it is also very inexpensive. For students who live abroad, e-mail is a godsend.

Erlin Sarwin, an MBA graduate from the University of Hawaii, wrote, "E-mail is a cheaper and a more convenient way to communicate. Although it can reduce face-to-face interaction, it does help in increasing the frequency of communication."

Beth Shang from the U.S. also appreciated the cheap and convenient communication provided by the Internet. She commented "The digital life has brought my family closer to me. I chat with my parents over the Internet twice a week and e-mail my sisters about once every 10 days ... "

Information

Digital life also means an abundance of information. There is so much information available on the Internet that savvy users do not have to visit the library as often.

Said Lydia Napitupulu, "As I am now a student, I love the fact that I can sit down at the computer and millions of books are at my fingertips. I can access them with just a click of a button. Interlibrary loaning means that you can get a book from anywhere. And we haven't even talked about data! There's so much available it can make you giddy."

Our seniors have also been jumping onto the digital bandwagon and have experienced the good things that it offers. Freelance writer Myra Sidharta, wrote, "To me, the digital revolution is like the Japanese occupation. It was a total change, and it gave me independence. Particularly in terms of productivity, it has really made a difference. When I write, for example, I can use the wonderful cut and paste facility. If I make a mistake, I can delete it. If I delete a correct text, I can quickly restore it. It's so convenient."

Mobility is also another very important aspect of the digital life. Buddy Cunanan, a journalist, wrote, "The most profound effect of the digital revolution for me has been the elimination of the office or the need to go to the office. E-mail and the Internet have made it possible for me to work from anywhere in the world for as long as I have a laptop computer and Internet access."

Harry Hartanto, an undergraduate student at the University of Calgary, also observed another advantage of digital technology. He wrote, "I have friends here whose mother language is Chinese, and most of them have a electronic dictionary. They can search for words instantly with it. Technology has been developed to improve our quality of life when we utilize it. My father felt comfortable with his diary until he became used to his electronic organizer."

The digital life also has its drawbacks, of course. One of them is inevitable. As Dean S. Achmad, one of the survey respondents, put it very succinctly, "It is expensive, but if you don't keep up you'll be left behind."

Another reason that digital life can be expensive is that it can be addictive too.

"The digital life means -- at least to me -- a form of addiction," Bart said. "I don't have too many digital gadgets, but then again with the few that I have it's already bad enough. If I look around and watch some of my colleagues -- they have a portable computer (I do to, and I don't go anywhere without it), a cellular phone with WAP capability, a Palm device, a portable CD ... you name it. And then you will need additional cash to buy the 'fuel' for them -- CDs, software, telephone charges to connect to the Internet."

There may still be another downside of the digital life. Aleta added in her response, "I think that too much dependency on technology can make our life worse. For example, if we get too dependent on our PDA, it can make us less productive when for some reason we don't have it with us. Besides, we may become more forgetful about numbers due to the PDAs that we carry with us -- or our cell phones, which store the numbers for us." Bart also had an experience to share, "Another point of the digital revolution is that people tend to become lazy. About 15 years ago, I had to teach a physics class in a secondary high school. I told the kids -- all 14 to 15 years old -- to solve some problems. Even for simple calculations, they needed an electronic calculator."

So, what is the conclusion? Is the digital world a good thing or not?