It is no surprise that technology available to the common man has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few decades. Gadgets like televisions and portable mobile phones, which were earlier seen as groundbreaking technologies available only for the select few, have now become part and parcel of every citizen’s life. With the improvement in hardware technologies comes an improvement in the kinds of applications these devices can support. An average mobile phone can now perform several tasks like browsing the internet or sending emails, which were earlier exclusive to laptops and personal computers.
As software development improves with each passing year, it directly translates into more utility for its users. Consider the case of navigating through a new place. Before the advent of such devices, the standard procedure was to pull over and ask someone passing through that area for directions to the nearest landmark, and a repeat of this cycle until one had reached the final destination. With computerized navigation now available on almost every device, the scenario is entirely different. All one needs to do is enter the destination, and the map application charts out a route that takes the shortest amount of time to traverse.
As is the case with most technologies, they are constantly being upgraded to serve their users better. Google Maps, for instance, now includes a voice navigation feature that provides turn by turn vocal instructions to the user. This reduces the need to actually look at the screen of the device. This is, in fact, a blessing in disguise for our visually impaired friends. They now have clear instructions on which turn to take next, in how much time, and so on. It can be visualized as an eye in the sky that watches over them and guides them to their final destination in the easiest way possible. All this was possible because the technology was put to use in a way that would benefit all its users. As citizens of a modern world, we must do everything in our power to ensure that advancements in technology are succeeded by initiatives that make them accessible to the ones who need them the most!
