How Did Technology Make Transportation Easier For Us, Essay Example

Technological advances have improved our world in many different ways. In particular, technology has allowed both people and goods to quickly travel from one place to another. Since the advent of railroads, cars, and airplanes people have decided to travel more frequently, which has increased the profit and value of industries. Interestingly however, transportation has become important and popular in part due to the way that the media presents it. The media is capable of convincing people what they want to do and how and their influence on the transportation industry is no expectation.

In the modern era, many individuals use airplanes and trains to travel to faraway places for work and vacation. Although we believe that we are making many of our travel decisions based on our individual wants and needs, the media defines what these wants and needs actually are. For example, people have started using travel sites, such as hotels.com, Travelocity, and Expedia, more than ever. Since people see commercials for these sites on the internet and on television, they are more inclined to believe that it is worthwhile to book through them. In doing so, people typically save money on their travel plans, which encourages an increase in the frequency of travel. Ultimately, not only do people benefit from technological advances that are directly related to the modes of transportation they are using, they benefit from the media resources that advertise their booking as well.

The relationship between technology and transportation has other advantages as well. For example, while we wait for and ride public transportation, there are many advertisements available for us to read. While some of these are commercial in nature, many are public service announcements that serve to educate us about various things. Some of these advertisements take advantage of social media to draw us in. Thus, by scanning bar codes on advertisements with our smartphones and tablets, it is possible to learn something new or keep us entertained during our ride. Therefore, technology also makes transportation easier in terms of in-ride entertainment.

Ultimately, the link between transportation, technology, and media is helping society while at the same time changing the behavior of humanity. Media calls our attention to new ideas and concepts that we wouldn’t necessarily have noticed on our own. Media that discusses transportation informs us about the many possibilities out there, and it helps us discover new things in a simpler, quicker way. On the other hand, it is changing the behavior of humanity because the ease with which media presents us ideas inhibits our need to think for ourselves. Since it presents us with these concepts immediately, we may be encouraged to take deals that it presents quickly without thinking the situation through.

While technology has certainly made transportation easier for us, this comes at a cost. Decision making concerning transportation has become so quick and easy that we are less likely to think things through. Media presents these bargains in a manner that makes it seem that the price will increase if we do not take immediate action. Even though it’s easier to book transportation methods online, it may be better to occasionally visit a travel agent to make sure that the best deals are actually being offered digitally. The media convinces us that this is the case and since we do not think on our own, very few people have questioned the validity of online transportation booking in terms of price.

Works Cited

Booth H. Transportation Research Aimed At Designing More LivableCommunities. 10 December 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.<http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2013/12/livable-communities-grant.php>

Globalization Since WWII. N.D. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://globalizationsincewwii.wikispaces.com/5+-+Media+and+Transportation+Technologies>

Harris B. Using Social Media to Your Advantage in Transportation and Logistics. N.D. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/using-social-media-to-your-advantage-in-transportation-and-logistics/>

Sherman E. Why the Future of Transportation Is All About Real-Time Data. 27 July 2011. Web. 15 May 2014.<http://mashable.com/2011/07/27/transportation-future-data/>