Technology Becomes "Natural"

"As we become accustomed to new things, they are woven into the fabric of daily life. Gradually, every new technology seems to become 'natural', and therefore somehow 'inevitable' because it is hard to imagine a world without it... Western societies have naturalized the radio, the mobile phone, and the television, and most people do not think of them as social constructions" (Nye, 65). Nye mentions the invention of flush toilets and how the outhouse now seems "disgusting and unacceptable". It's these technologies that I believe most people tend to forget about because they have become such a natural part of our daily lives. Other technologies, such as e-mail and the cell phone, have also developed an important role. I am aware that the mobile phone is constantly improving, but adding more applications to it is causing us to feel a little lost or anxious if we do not have this technology with us. I constantly rely on my phone for the time, and actually stopped wearing a watch once I bought a cell phone. And sadly, if I forget my cell at home, I am constantly thinking that I am missing an important call or text, when usually I come home to see that I haven't missed anything. People survived just fine without a lot of the technologies that we have today, yet we still think that life is better, or maybe easier now, and have come to highly rely on technology for getting daily tasks done.