Technology has become such an inseparable part of daily life that it is difficult to imagine modern existence without it. From the moment an alarm rings on a smartphone to the time a person checks the same phone before going to sleep, digital technology accompanies us through almost every part of the day.
Yet technology’s role in contemporary life goes beyond convenience and productivity. Technology has increasingly become part of our aspirations. A perfectly functional smartphone may suddenly seem old-fashioned when a new model is launched.
A conventional watch can tell the time perfectly well, yet a smartwatch promises to monitor our health, track our exercise and keep us connected. Tablets, smart glasses and foldable phones are other examples of gadgets that have become aspirational.
This raises an interesting and relevant question: Are we buying technology because we need it, or because we have learned to desire it?
Technology and education
Education is among the areas transformed most dramatically by technology. During the past decade, online learning has become particularly significant. However, technology does not automatically produce better education. Excessive dependence on digital tools can create distractions.
Students may also be tempted to use technology to avoid thinking for themselves. The tablet illustrates this tension well. It can be a portable library, notebook, drawing surface and classroom, but it can also become a source of endless entertainment.
In a significant move towards promoting analog learning, UAE schools in line with the “Guide to Reducing the Use of Digital Tools in Learning” adopted for Grade 6 students in Cycle 2 schools nationwide, will not allow Grade 6 students to bring laptops and other digital devices to school. The use of VPN applications and other private virtual platforms will also be restricted.
Romana Farhat, a Dubai-based Elementary Science Lead and Homeroom Teacher, believes technology in the classroom comes at a price. She says: “While the use of devices in schools has undoubtedly helped students become more technologically advanced, this progress has come at the expense of the basic skills that every child deserves to develop.”
“Fundamental abilities such as handwriting, reading comprehension, mental arithmetic, face-to-face communication, and critical thinking are being gradually weakened as students grow increasingly dependent on screens. These core skills form the foundation of lifelong learning and cannot be replaced by technological fluency alone.
“Furthermore, the over-reliance on devices at such a young age raises concerns about attention spans, social development, and overall well-being.”
Technology and lifestyle
Technology has also changed how we manage ordinary life. Smartphones function as calendars, maps, cameras, communication devices and personal assistants. Smartwatches monitor physical activity.
For some people, these features genuinely improve their lives. For others, however, the constant stream of measurements can create a new form of anxiety. Technology can therefore simplify life while also encouraging us to measure and monitor it constantly.
Nerry Toledo, a yoga and mindfulness teacher and workplace wellbeing specialist based in Dubai, weighs in on her reasons for not opting for wearable tech. “As a yoga and mindfulness teacher and workplace wellbeing specialist, I don’t feel the need to monitor my body constantly through data. Wearable technology can be helpful for understanding patterns, encouraging movement and supporting specific health goals. But I think we are becoming increasingly dependent on numbers to tell us whether we have slept well, exercised enough or managed our stress. For some people, repeatedly checking those scores can create pressure or anxiety, especially when the data conflicts with how they actually feel. Wellbeing should not become another performance metric.”
Sport becomes data-driven
Athletes now use sensors, GPS devices, cameras and sophisticated software to analyse performance. Wearable devices can monitor training intensity, distance, speed and recovery.
For recreational athletes, technology has made personal fitness more measurable and social.
Yet there is a danger in reducing sport to numbers. Not every enjoyable run needs to produce a record, and not every game needs to be optimised. Sport is also about spontaneity, competition, teamwork and pleasure.
However, many celebrities seem to have reconciled their skills and talent with the need to update their performance on a technological level. 41-year-old Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo announced his partnership with WHOOP — a US-based healthcare wearable technology company — in 2024. In a global campaign launched in July 2026 that premiered during the Fifa World Cup, the brand focuses on Ronaldo’s pursuit of longevity, linking one of football’s most enduring careers to the science behind sustained performance. It follows Ronaldo from his childhood in Portugal’s Madeira to football’s most prominent stage.
Finance goes digital
Few areas of daily life have changed as rapidly as personal finance. Banking apps allow people to transfer money, pay bills, monitor spending and manage accounts without visiting a bank. Contactless payments and digital wallets have made transactions faster and increasingly invisible.
For businesses and consumers, this convenience is transformative. Financial technology can also provide access to services that were once difficult to obtain.
However, as more financial activity shifts online, cybersecurity and privacy become increasingly important. Technology has also changed our psychological relationship with spending. Digital payments can make purchasing feel effortless. When money changes hands without physical cash, it can become easier to spend without fully registering the transaction. Technology has therefore made finance more convenient, but not necessarily more mindful.
Creativity in the digital age
Today, a visual artist can work on a tablet without carrying a studio. A musician can compose, record and edit music using a computer. A filmmaker can shoot high-quality footage on a smartphone. Writers can collaborate with people on the other side of the world.
Artificial intelligence is now adding another layer to this transformation. The issue is not whether technology belongs in the arts, but how artists can use it without compromising their own creativity, moral compass, and sense of self-worth.
Christina Frank, a senior designer based in Bengaluru, India, remains grateful for tech in creativity, but believes boundaries need to be established. “I use the Adobe Creative Cloud suite to design all my creative work, and it fascinates me how rapidly technology is evolving. The integration of AI into design applications has undoubtedly reduced the time it takes to create and made the process far more efficient. But there is a downside; when things can be done so quickly and seemingly effortlessly, it is tempting to let the technology do more of the thinking for you. And, as an artist, that can be dangerous. I can’t remember the last time I picked up a pencil to storyboard an idea before opening my design software. Earlier, I had to generate, develop and refine my own ideas; now, I find myself increasingly relying on technology to do some of that work for me. The irony is that the very technology that makes us more efficient can, if we’re not careful, make us less inventive.”
From necessary devices to aspirational gadgets
Perhaps the most fascinating development in modern technology is the emergence of the aspirational gadget.
Consider the mobile phone. For many people, a smartphone bought several years ago continues to perform all essential functions perfectly well. Yet the arrival of a new model can create an immediate sense of inadequacy.
The newly announced foldable phone by Apple is a good example of this phenomenon. Its appeal is not necessarily based on solving a problem that millions of consumers urgently face. Instead, it represents novelty, sophistication and a glimpse of the technological future. The device becomes something to aspire to.
This is where technology intersects with consumer psychology. Companies do not simply sell specifications; they sell possibilities and lifestyles.
Renuka Massey, a teacher based in Dubai, is candid about her fondness for aspirational gadgets.
“I don’t ‘need’ a new iPhone. I just need to know that there’s a newer one in the market. Something about a new camera and a few improved features suddenly makes my perfectly good phone feel ancient. So yes, keeping up with the new iPhones is less about necessity and more about FOMO. What drives me to upgrade my iPhone? It’s not about the need. Just the undeniable feeling that my current phone has suddenly become last season.”
The allure of smart glasses
Smart glasses take this phenomenon even further. Unlike a phone or tablet, smart glasses place digital technology directly into our field of vision. They promise hands-free access to information, navigation, photography, communication and other functions.
But smart glasses are also controversial. A camera embedded in ordinary-looking spectacles raises obvious questions about privacy and consent. There is also a deeper social question. If smartphones already encourage us to look at screens rather than at one another, what happens when the screen becomes virtually invisible and permanently available?
Smart glasses therefore represent two things: the possibility of making life more seamless, alongside the risk of making technology impossible to escape.
The new meaning of ‘enough’
The greatest challenge presented by modern technology may not be technological at all. It may be learning when we have enough.
There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting a better phone, a faster tablet or a more advanced smartwatch. Innovation can improve lives, and new devices often introduce genuinely useful capabilities. The problem begins when novelty itself becomes the reason for consumption.
Technology companies have powerful incentives to persuade consumers that yesterday’s device is no longer good enough. Social media intensifies that pressure by turning products into cultural symbols.
The future will undoubtedly bring smarter phones, thinner tablets, more capable watches, sophisticated glasses and increasingly imaginative forms of wearable technology. The real measure of progress, however, should not be how many gadgets we own. It should be how effectively technology helps us live better lives.
A Hollywood icon weighs in
Perhaps one of the biggest advocates for old-school cinema viewing is Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise. Despite the Covid pandemic causing multiple delays in the release of his blockbuster aviation thriller Top Gun: Maverick, he told an audience at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, “I make movies for the big screen… I love this experience and I want other filmmakers to have that experience.” He added that he never even considered debuting the film on a streaming platform.
Entertainment at our fingertips
Entertainment has perhaps become the most visible expression of technological change. Television has evolved into streaming services; music collections have become digital libraries; cinemas compete with home entertainment systems; and video games have incorporated virtual reality and augmented reality to become sophisticated social and creative experiences.
The smartphone has brought much of this entertainment into our pockets. A person can watch a film, listen to a podcast, play a game, follow live sports or communicate with friends without needing a separate device for each activity.
Social media has added another dimension. Entertainment is no longer something we merely consume; we also create and distribute it. But constant access has its costs. The boundary between leisure and compulsion can become blurred.
Alistair Rego, a marketing professional based in Abu Dhabi, finds the big screen refreshing after daily exposure to his smartphone.
“Strangely, I find myself going to the cinema more often now than before. However, my phone is still where I consume most entertainment, simply because it’s the most accessible option, especially given how busy life gets and when I’m traveling. But it’s a strange contradiction; the busier and more screen-saturated my day gets, the more I find myself craving the opposite: a dark room, a big screen, no notifications. My phone is where entertainment happens by default, out of convenience. But the cinema is where it happens by choice.”
