One of the biggest assets the turn of the twentieth century has brought to the modern homo sapiens is the ability to communicate personal needs in numerous ways: primarily, via speech, texting, emails, social networks, TV, radio, and other media.
However, the situation was completely different a century, or even two centuries ago. Think of the Bronte sisters who lived so far from the civilisation that the only thing they could do was read and write all day long. Or centuries past, when letters were the only way to communicate with people in remote corners of the Earth.
But today, in the 21st century, the situation is completely different. The development of IT and technological advancement have brought us so many useful gadgets and new means of communication that we are practically not allowed to get bored. Here’s how you can use those thingies in your advantage and never feel bored again.
Bookworm’s Paradise: e-book Readers
Let’s start from the aforementioned books – which used to be the only form of home entertainment for millennia. Besides from being fun, books came in many shapes and sizes: paperbacks, hard cover, pocket size, large formats, odd shapes – but their biggest ‘flaw’, if we dare put it that way, was that they were robust.
With the little help of technology, we can now access all the books we want – in virtual libraries in our e-book readers, so that we can practically take our personal libraries with us wherever we go. In the waiting room, in the subway, on the plane, in the (back seat of a) car, under a tree, at the university; wherever your feet take you, your books and you shall no longer part.
Communication Gateway: Social Networks
Even though some critics see social networks from the negative perspective only, they are not that bad actually. Far from being ‘disconnected from reality’, if you know how to use them, they cannot harm you.
For example, if your best friend starts working as a flight attendant at the end of the world, the only (inexpensive) way of communication for the two of you would be to chat via Facebook, share images via Instagram, see what’s New Delhi actually like via YouTube, or – if bored, send instant messages or make calls in real time via WhatsApp or Viber.
The truth is that social networks bridge communication, erase space & time borders and help you spend some time in the virtual world whenever you feel bored in the real one. They are a fact, the real state of things – the new media of the twenty-first century, and an aid to communication.
Video Reality: Reshaped Image of the World
The entertaining media have never been closer to a regular person. Since the majority of (the younger) population possesses a smart phone, iPhone or a tablet, it has never been easier to catch sequences of reality and share them with the world, with merely few seconds of delay – that is, almost as they happen.
Smart phones are the prime example of that. Even with a low-resolution camera, you can show the world how your cat just sneezed, or catch the first words of your toddler – via the internet.
But not only that. You can find a lot of interesting information, documentaries and historical videos on YouTube, Vimeo, BBC, HBO or other major TV broadcasting companies’ websites. The access to information has never been easier to grasp than now. Many companies have realised the advantages of TV and the Internet. Content offered on platforms like Compare Broadband Bundles no longer implies a regular, pre-set programme you cannot edit yourself – there is a plethora of informative content on demand as well.
And as you can see, there is practically no room for boredom in the twenty-first century. Use the benefits of this moment, but use them wisely, and make every moment count.
