Writing Assignment 1

Imagine living in a place without television to watch, hot water to bathe with or computers to calculate your data. Your life will be full of dullness and inconveniences. Technology has become the necessity of our life but it does not come about easily. One of the challenges faced was people’s resistance to new ways of doing things. We will look at the causes for such a mindset and the effects that will arise.
New technology is brought about when there is a need to solve a common problem. One example is medical technology. The medicines on the shelves of a pharmacy are for people suffering from a particular illness. However, every individual has a unique genetic composition so the particular medicine may not be suitable. This explains why some people will need to change their medication several times before they get well. The next example is computer based technology. According to summary of a survey found in Professor Henry’s research paper(1994), “computer based technology can cause resistance on the part of end-users, because it is difficult to learn.” Computers and software are not something that one can grasp in a day. The functions available are numerous and may require days of exploring and playing with these functions before one can start to use it properly. Hence, people shun new technology as they are not made for individuals.
Another reason to resist new technology is it creates new problems while solving the current problems faced. One example is the firewall technology on the internet. In order to prevent malicious attacks from viruses and hackers, networks are under surveillance and this causes a slowdown in the exchange of information.
These are factors that lead people to resist new technology, the very thing that we thought of as necessity. Without new technology, there will be no change in our life. This is not just about conveniences, it is about survival-people who are suffering from terminal illness will need to resign to death or global warming will continue to worsen, melting the ice at the North and South poles, thus flooding low lying areas.
In conclusion, people’s resistance to new technology comes from the fact that the technology does not cater to their individual requirement or they do not gain much from it but rather suffered more. However, we cannot overlook the fact that technology has helped us in the last few centuries. Simply ignoring new technology may mean the end of the world.





Henry, J.W. (1994). Resistance to Computer-based Technology in the Workplace. Executive Development, 7(1), 20-23.