IELTS Essay: Has technology made us more efficient?
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic.
Some people think that recent innovations in technology have made life more comfortable and helped us to be more efficient by saving us time, while others argue that technology has made us less efficient.
Model Answer
Technology has been around for quite some time, but the pace at which it developed in recent years has both startled and surprised people. Nowadays, new and improved gadgets hit the market almost every day. In a couple of weeks they become outdated and are replaced by even more sophisticated ones.
It is true that technological innovations have made our lives more comfortable. It is now hard to imagine a life without such appliances as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and washing machines. The advent of computers changed the way we process and access information. Mobile phones help people to stay connected all the time. And with internet, we can access a limitless pool of information from the comforts of our home. Indeed, technology has not only made our lives more comfortable, but also become an integral part of it.
On the other hand, technology can cause a great deal of stress to people who are overly dependent on it. Now that internet and cell phones allow people to stay connected all the time, there is no escaping from one’s work. People carry their phones around and can’t help checking their emails even when they are on a vacation. Worse still, too much reliance on technology can make us less efficient. Now many people don’t even bother to remember their own telephone number. They expect their computers and cellphones to remember everything for them. This makes their brain idle.
What’s more, when technology gets more and more sophisticated day by day it is not easy to keep pace with it. Many modern cellphones, computers and cameras boast of complicated features that ordinary users cannot understand. People often have to spend a great deal of time learning how to use the most recent gadgets. By the time, they had figured out how to use a particular device, a more sophisticated one would have hit the market.
In conclusion, technological innovations make lives more comfortable. However, I don’t think that they make us more efficient because most of us who handle these devices do not have the technical expertise to do it. Unless we learn to use these devices properly, they are unlikely to make us more efficient.
