I knew something was wrong when I couldn't open my Eco-Column Data Collection document in APES today. For over an hour this afternoon, people all over the country were confronted with society's new BSOD when they tried to access files on Google Docs (or Doc files on Google Drive).
People seemed pretty upset and frustrated by this. One Twitter user posts, "OF COURSE GOOGLE DOCS DECIDES TO GLITCH AFTER I FINALLY STOP PROCRASTINATING AND START THE ESSAY THAT’S DUE IN TWO HOURS."
Should we be alarmed that people are so dependent on services like Google Docs? If Google Drive was to unexpectedly shut down, I'd lose a ton of stuff, including photos, past assignments, and UC Essays (oh wait can't lose something you haven't written yet).
What do you guys think? Have we become too dependent on (internet) services? Or are they simply tools that enhance our capabilities?
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19 comments:
I'm probably Google's biggest fan. If Google went down, everything I have would be gone. For the past half year, I've completely stopped storing anything on my computer. 6 months, and my computer is as empty as the day I bought it. No downloads, no documents, no photos, nothing. 99% of my work is on Drive, the remaining 1% is on DropBox. Very, very efficient system. But, if Google were to one day collapse, there goes everything. So hopefully the employees there don't mess anything up.
There are definitely a LOT of people who depend on Google Docs and other Google sites. I've probably put every essay I've written throughout all four school years on Google Drive, as well as other spreadsheets/slideshows. If Google Drive were to go down forever, I would lose a bunch of information I've put online (including my current college essays). However, there's also a lot of information I've stored on my computer as well, so it wouldn't be too bad. Also, the chance of Google crashing and not recovering is probably super unlikely.
Who knows, maybe it will fall to hackers one day as we slowly transition to "Bing"ing things.
I think although it is important to be aware of how much we rely on online services, such and google docs and google drive, it is not a bad thing to store our files on these online services. Any storage method comes with its risks. If you store paper files, they could burn in a fire or be stolen. If you store files on your computer or a hard drive, you could lose them if your computer is destroyed or damaged. Google has an added benefit of being easily accessible from many places. All in all, most of these catastrophic events, including a worldwide permanent google failure, don't have a high likelihood of happening, so I don't think google poses an above-average threat to any of our college apps.
I am not alarmed that so many people are dependent on Google Docs because Google is easy to use and access. As you mentioned, a massive amount of important material would become lost, maybe deleted, if Google shut down. It would be bad news for major businesses and companies that rely on Google docs because their work could be wiped out. Hence, that is the danger of this monopoly.
We’ve definitely become too dependent on internet services, but for good reason. Teaching can be more interactive and interesting, illegible writing is now readable, information is easily accessible, research is easier, and the list continues. Our society is growing to be more technologically advanced. Dependence on google is a result of the process. Additionally, if Google shuts down for some reason, Word and USB drives are always available. And, nice joke.
Adding on to what was said above, I find it fascinating to think about how a single company's software has made its way to influence the lives of so many people. 10 years ago, in the era of Microsoft Word 2007, who would have thought that Google Docs would one day take over?
A lot of it has to do with the ideas that Max was talking about. Online services have become more capable (now Google Docs can do almost everything that Microsoft Word can) and simple (not having to worry about saving or copying files to a USB), making people shift away from older technologies and try new ones. I'd compare Microsoft Word to DVDs or Vinyl Records, which are clunky and have been largely replaced by services like Netflix and Spotify. Microsoft has tried improving Word, but in my eyes, has been unable to match the accessibility and convenience that Google provides.
In an age of technology where even files for most classes are stored online, it'd be more weird if people didn't rely on technology ridiculously much. This is more or less called "using our resources" to make shortcuts for ourselves. Of course, over reliance on anything is unhealthy, but isn't our generation a bit far too gone to be considering the consequences? Yes, we should definitely store things in a flash drive.. but without Internet, are flash drives even useful? Yes.. we should have files written down in paper. But that'd be more easy to lose, takes more resources, and have less accessibility. So yes, we're too dependent, but there isn't much that can be done to remedy that so why not go with the flow?
I do think we are too dependent on Google(and other internet services) but they are also way too convenient and easy to access that we would just keep using them. Saving documents by hard copy, USB, or on the computer is just a lot work(even though it only takes one or two clicks). Besides, like Lydia mentioned, any method of saving files can result in lost files. The only thing we can do is hope that Google won't collapse.
I think that our generation is too dependent on technology, but nothing will change that. It is a lifestyle to open up our google drives everyday to do homework or check our emails daily without even thinking to write on paper instead. This just shows the evolution of technology, and how easy it has become to save files and do everything on our laptops without having to bring a USB around with us all day.
We have access to such convenient technology, so why shouldn't we use it? While our generation is overly dependent on technology, we are doing it to keep up with the changing times. Imagine never using the internet for research, instead completely relying on books/encyclopedias; I am definitely not against using books for research, of course, especially because they often provide new insight not found online, but it would be very inefficient to try to find the right quotes from the right books when you have access to the Internet to find similar information, but quicker and easier. While we would lose so many relatively important documents if Google went down, we would not be the only ones to feel those effects, like Allison said. Every other living generation would be affected by the crash, whether it is because they use Google Drive for their personal work, or they rely on a business that organizes itself with Google. Our dependence on technology is unlikely to change, and I don't think that it necessarily should, as it gives us a wealth of new information if we so seek it.
Who can blame us for being dependent on services such as our Google Drive? Our own high school makes sure we all have an account, and some teachers even incorporate the services of Google Docs into everyday lessons. It has become routine to open up a Google doc and the creators behind this resource have made it so easy to use that it's only logical that we keep our most important files in some cloud protected by Google (because everyone just trusts Google, right?). In the century we live in, everyone is definitely too dependent on technology because we trust that it will always work perfectly. But as Erin said, our dependence probably will never decrease because it doesn't really have to with the constant innovations and better technology that is always being produced.
Our generation was born into technology. We know more about it than any past generation. We were raised into it and that will never change, so I do think we are way too dependent on technology. However, there is no way that this will ever change. We have assimilated into it, we depend on it for school, for work, for personal reasons. There is just no way we could drop all of it and go back to a world without technology because it is so convenient for us.
This argument is usually made by older people who can't deal with the changing times. We as a community now have the power to rely on independent sources to accomplish many feats. While their will always be naysayers, we as a society have become more attached to technology, and too many people surprise this is a GOOD THING. We are now more connected than ever, as most of use these independent resources to communicate. Google is this generation's books. It is the fastest and most reliable resource of information. It is so integrated into our society that our school has forced each student to have a google account.
As time goes on, services get better. Real-time collaboration on cloud documents stored safely across the world would be a myth a decade ago. These tools for sure enhance our capabilities.
I'd trust the cloud more than I would myself with a usb drive or even a piece of paper.
As a society, we have put lots of trust into large digital corporations. All of us can attest to how much of our work is on google drive, and if it were to crash we would lose a significant portion of important notes and essays. However, using digital copies allows us the freedom to easily back up information. If someone is very worried that google drive will magically stop working, they can store secondary copies on their hard drive or in other online storage locations. If we were to revert to working on paper, making back ups would be much more time consuming. Even if google were to crash, there are traces of our documents that can actually be recovered.
Also, paper copies are arguably easier to lose. It is not uncommon to misplace worksheets, whereas a Google Doc is always saved in Drive. When was the last time you heard of someone losing the notes they wrote online?
The internet is, when it comes down to it, a tool. Like any tool, it has its strengths and its weaknesses. One must decide if it is the right tool for the situation—if the strengths outweigh the weaknesses.
If Google were to go down, I would be pretty upset because that's where I put all of my project ideas and I spent years on it. Although I highly doubt that will completely happen because google is a large online cooperation that spans the entire world at this point and I don't think one crash of the google doc system is going to bring it down or even delete the docs inside your emails. Although I can agree that we have grown a little dependent on google.
I believe as technology continues to advance, we are becoming extremely dependent on internet services. However, how could we not be dependent on technology when it has become such a huge part of our lives. These services are becoming more and more convenient for everyone, it's hard to not rely on it. With the use of google drive, I feel like it has enhanced our capabilities of learning with more advanced technology. So many people use google not only as a browser, but as the new and improved Word. Instead of having to carry around a flash drive everywhere, you can access all of your files from any computer or phone at any time. You risk losing your files wherever you are: what if you lose your flash drive? what if google drive crashes? In our generation, we have been born into technology and have become reliant on it. Theres no straying from that. We don't go a day without technology from school, to reading news, watching movies, to social media. Google has become a huge part of our generation and it is now one of the most efficient, accessible and useful sources of technology used among everyone.
While it's certainly true that we rely on technology too much, I don't think this is one such case. Google docs is extremely convenient and allows us to save and access our documents on any devices we want for free. Programs like Microsoft Word (which costs money) are unable to do this sort of thing and documents can only be on one computer. Although Word offers more features than docs, students like us are unlikely to be make full use of them for schoolwork. While reliance on technology can be a problem, I think in this scenario, the benefits far outweigh the detriments.
I don't think that we have become too dependent on technology and internet too much. Our world is constantly changing and advancing and using the internet is essential to keep up with the way our world is changing. This is just the way that society is moving, so I don't think people as individuals are relying too much on technology because it is apart of our day to day lives so much. Any way you store your work, whether it be on google docs, or whether it be on paper or a flash drive, there is always a risk of losing your work. Therefore, I don't think that people are becoming too dependent on the internet and
I think that it would be incorrect to admit that we are somewhat reliant on these types of internet services. I do not, however, think that this is such a bad thing. It is evident that these types of services have improved our lives, as they are extremely useful and convenient. They are also generally more reliable and safer than other forms of saving documents such as through Word or using USBs. While our reliance on Google Docs does make the service failing an issue, we have to realize that it is not the end of the world, and that it will ultimately can and will be fixed. The people at Google probably rely as much on Google Docs as us average people and will work hard to fix it not only because consumers need it, but they themselves need it. To freak out so much over this little issue is kinda like if people in the past who wrote everything on paper had their paper burn and think "oh no, my things can go away, I have become too reliant on paper! I need to stop writing on paper and go back to cave walls!" No, its ok, you can write on paper, you don't need to feel guilty and self-concious. This is just like how we are not reacting to Google Docs crashing. We don't need to change our ways, and it is not bad that we are reliant on these services; instead, we just need to remember that there is potential for it to fail, which is a risk that we must take to use them. I think that overall, this does highlight how we take these types of things for granted nowadays, but as society continues to advance technologically, I think that we will need to stop feeling guilty and just embrace our reliance on some of these services.
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