Through the years, we've watched technology grow like a child budding into adulthood: It starts out mostly crying and pooping, then crawling, gradually learning to walk, and finally able to run at a speed we all wish we could keep up with. We've seen technology fail, and we've seen it succeed. We've poked fun at it when it doesn't make sense, and we've praised it when it's absolutely brilliant. We've yelled at it when it runs out of power, and we've fixed or replaced it when it gets run down.

We treat technology as a family member—even if that is a little co-dependent. You can't blame us, though; it's certainly made aspects of our lives easier: We're no longer forced to send letters through the postal service, book vacations through travel agents, shop in stores, visit the library for research material, or wait for our photos to be developed. Thanks to technology, all of these activities can be performed either digitally or online.

At the same time, though, technology can make life more convoluted—especially when something doesn't work right or doesn't do what it's supposed to: Say, for instance, a GPS device tells you to turn the wrong way on a one-way street (yikes!), or a computer erases all of your important data (ouch!).

Unfortunately, it's not always easy to understand how a product or service works, not to mention whether or not to hold off on adopting it until a better, shinier thing comes along. A perfect example is the ever-evolving video format. We've gone from Betamax to VHS to DVD to HD DVD/Blu-ray to just Blu-ray (and everything in-between, of course). It can take years before a technology catches on, and even more time before we see a significant price drop.

For the most part, however, technology does us more good than harm: It's reconnected us with old college roommates, helped us learn a foreign language, and encouraged us to exercise. Follow us as we look back at how technology has changed our lives—for the better and for the worse—in terms of communication, computing, dining, entertainment, and travel.

這些年來,我們注視著科技像一個小孩一樣慢慢成長為一個成年人:一開始,它又哭又鬧,然后它可以爬行,逐漸學習行走,最后能以一個我們希望能跟得

上的速度去奔跑.我們曾經看到過它失敗,我們也曾經看到過它成功.我們曾經在它沒有意義的時候取笑過它,也曾經在它大放異彩的時候稱贊過它.我

們曾經在它筋疲力盡的時候對它大聲吼叫,也曾經在它停步不前的時候修理或者取代它.
我們對待科技就像是我們家庭中的一員----即使它只有微薄之力.請別責怪我們,它只是讓我們的某些生活方面變得更加容易一些.我們無須再費神的去

郵局寄信,去旅行社算帳,去商店購物,去圖書館查資料,或者等待我們的照片沖印出來.感謝技術,所有的這些事情都可以數字化或者在線解決.
但是同時,科技卻又可能讓我們的生活更加麻煩----特別是當某些部分沒有正確工作或者不是按照事先設定的那樣工作.比如說,GPS裝置指引你行駛

到了一條錯誤的單行道上(暈!),或者電腦刪除掉了你所有重要的數據(天呀!).
不幸的是,去鑒定一件產品或者一項服務工作的如何并不是一件簡單的事情,更不用說去推遲使用它以等待更好的,于是麻煩出現了.一個最好的例子就

是曾經發展的視頻格式.我們發展了從大尺寸磁帶錄象機到家用錄象機到DVD再到HD DVD/Blu-ray再到Blu-ray(包括中間的所有格式).在一項技

術普及之前需要花費很長的時間,而在它的價格下降之前則要更多的時間.
但是不管怎么說,科技在很大程度上帶給我們的是好處而不是損害:它讓我們與以前的大學室友重新取得聯系,幫助我們學習外語,還有促進我們加強鍛

煉.讓我們一起回望,看看科技是怎樣改變我們的生活的----包括好的一面和差的一面----在交流,計算,餐飲,娛樂以及旅行方面.