Many people complain that technology has negatively affected the way we interact with one another, and the way we process information. We highlighted some of the reasons technology actually makes life better, especially living in the Middle East, where communication is a very important part of our daily lives.
1) It’s likely you have family living somewhere abroad. Whether studying, working or married somewhere else in the world, keeping in touch with them is important. 15 years ago, it was much more difficult (and expensive) to call family. Now you have a plethora of resources, and many of them free or inexpensive, like Skype, Viber, Tango, WhatsApp or even Google Hangouts. Keeping in touch is a piece of cake.
2) Wondering what’s going on in Gaza right this moment? Just go to Twitter. Twitter revolutionized news and made it so much easier for us to know what’s happening in the region regardless of where we are or when it happened. Instead of waiting for newspapers to release breaking news each day, we have minute-to-minute updates. This also allows us to connect with more people, and seek relevant information, potentially even participate and positively change something.
3) Learn literally anything, anytime. YouTube, Google, DIY blogs… All of these have completely changed the way we learn. Want to learn how to code your own website? There’s a million sites/blogs/tutorials/videos about that. For free. How to hang your own shelves? Make Nablusi-style Konafeh? There’s a video for that too. In the olden days (okay, 12 years ago…) if you wanted to learn something, you would have to read a book or actually… take a course. Nope. Not anymore. Now there are almost no excuses to NOT knowing how to do things.
4) Hungry? Gone are the days of going to bed without eating because you are too lazy to make something. There are now myriad applications like HelloFood and Talabat where you can take your pick of various restaurants and they’ll deliver at almost anytime. Even McDonalds has delivery in the Middle East, which is something that still hasn’t happened in the United States.
5) One word: Start-ups. Opening your own business, whether online or offline, in the MENA region is so much easier now because of technology. Building a client base, getting ideas, finding web-developers, marketing your brand, making contacts and even sharing your start-up with others can happen at any time through the magic of the internet. A couple decades ago, opening up your own business required so much more research, time and effort. Now you can have an entire team throughout the region working cohesively on one project, using platforms like Trello and Asana to keep track of work and assignments. Viola!
What other ways has technology improved or changed your life for the better? Tell us in the comments below!
