Blog #5: Wi-Fi

Something I found very interesting while listening to my peer's presentations, was the evolution and impact of wifi. Because of the remarkable progress our society has made with technology, I’ve been able to reflect on how these advancements affect my day-to-day life.

In the past, staying connected to other individuals required patience, as messages traveled slowly through various ways. Today, the evolution of Wi-Fi has transformed the way we interact with the world. It allows people to seamlessly access information, communicate with others, and work from just about anywhere with an internet connection.

We use Wi-Fi so often, that it’s become second nature to us. We don’t ever think about it unless it’s not working, because we always assume we’ll automatically connect to internet everywhere we go. 

Understanding the way Wi-Fi actually works and how it was created was fascinating to me. It always has been, but it’s crazy to think about everything that constantly runs behind the scenes for us to have access to internet. Wi-Fi networking uses radio waves to produce high-speed internet. Once a transmitter receives data from the internet, the data is then converted to a radio signal that is received by Wi-Fi enabled devices. 

Wi-Fi was invented to bridge the digital divide in rural and isolated areas. The main goal that still stands today is to have everyone and everything connected all over the globe. The evolution of this technology ensures easy and convenient communication all the time, but what about its negatives? 

We as humans have become very used to having access to internet all the time, and it seems we may depend on it way too much. We really can’t make it one full day without using the internet, which causes our attention span to decrease as well as our immediate knowledge. 

My hope is that we can find the balance between the use of technology, and that people won’t forget how to look up from their phones and enjoy the beautiful world around us.