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II. Let’s talk about modern means of communication

Modem technology is rapidly spreading all over the Earth. Every of¬fice is equipped with a personal computer, an answer-phone, a fax machine and a photocopier. Every teenager is able to use a video recorder, a camera or an MP3 player.

Ask a teenager or an adult if they can do without TV or the internet and most of them will honestly be surprised at the question. Radio and television play an important role in our life, they give the full coverage of

the latest events, comment on political and domestic affairs, contribute to the development of the information network.

Personal computers are being used in almost every field today. For in¬stance, they can pay wages, reserve seats on planes, control satellites in space, work out tomorrow’s weather, play chess and compose music. Supposing we had neither television nor the internet in our modem world, we wouldn’t be able to obtain the necessary information as quickly as possible, we would lose an important source of education and communica¬tion.

The most popular means of communication nowadays is the mobile phone. In Albania it is not unusual to see an older person riding a donkey while talking on a mobile phone. In India you can see a beggar making or taking a call on a cell phone. Advanced models of mobile phones enable users to access the internet, send and receive e-mail and text messages, watch TV, listen to music, take photos, navigate by the Global Positioning System and phone.

At the same time addiction, distraction, interruption are perhaps the most recognized problems associated with popular communications and media technology. Let’s consider the example of two newlyweds in a Euro¬pean country. According to a news report, they ‘were on the phone constant¬ly - in their cars, at the gym, even calling each other from different rooms inside their own house’. For many people the thought of being out of con¬tact for even an hour is unbearable.

If to speak about disadvantages of television, there are people who wouldn’t miss their favourite chat shows or football matches for anything in the world. Such people must remember that one can get addicted to TV, as it is a habit-forming drug impossible to resist. There are people who stop participating in any sports activities. Others stop going out to com¬municate with their friends and relatives. Doctors keep reminding us that constant viewing inevitably degrades the eyesight. Sitting slows down the blood circulation and turns you into a couch potato.

George Bernard Shaw used to say that maximum of opportunities is always combined with maximum of temptation. This saying can be fully applied to modem means of communication and technical progress.