Back then, people used to have different means of entertainment and different resources to earn money, but in the late 80s, the launch of the internet changed everything. As the technology evolved, the world moved towards more automation and invention. The mediums to communicate started to become more effective and convenient. The world was once scattered but now you can see and know about every part of the world on the screen of your laptop or Smartphone device.
Late in the 20th century, computers were launched in the market for sale, who would have imagined that the world would start to depend on them in almost every aspect of life. The era of digitization started in the mid 20th century and since then the world has been transformed into something we call the “Modern Era”.
There was a time when people used to live their life in a different way, do you remember when it was the last time you memorized a number?. We used to memorize the number of our close relatives, friends, and family members, but since the introduction of cell phones, we started to depend upon the devices.
Benefits of digital communication
You can see your loved ones living in different corners of the world with multiple apps for free. The ease of communication was enhanced when electronic devices like laptops, smartphone tablets, and watches became the mediums to communicate all around the world. Due to the Covid outbreak, the use of digital devices to communicate escalated rapidly. The whole education system was moved to digital learning.
The trend shifted from “work from the office to work from home”, enabling thousands of organizations to arrange their meetings online. Plus, all the conferences, business summits, and global meetings went online. Without the ease of digital communication, it would not have been possible to interact in a pandemic when social distancing became a serious matter of concern.
Furthermore, the world remained connected and interactive when mobilization was discouraged during the lockdown. The same SOPs were implemented in all parts of the world, and everyone was on the same page in dealing with the biggest upset of the century so far. The best part is that the ease of digital communication is free, you do not pay for WhatsApp, Skype, Google Meet, Facebook, and so on.
The ease of digital devices
It has never been so convenient as it is now to communicate with friends, family, and loved ones even if you live in another part of the world. Due to an increase in internet speed, communication speed has also been enhanced. Faster bandwidth has enabled people to interact via video and audio call in real-time. There are more than 3.7 billion smartphone users in the world, and due to internet access on smartphone devices, access to information has become extremely simple and easy.
The laptops we carry with us is just not a piece of device, it has become a way of life now. The dependency on laptops has increased over the last few years, and people even use them to set alarms and timers. If you are a Mac user, Read the article to know how to set alarms on Mac. The use of laptops is widespread in all fields of life such as in education, for playing games, at work, for personal multimedia, and for web browsing.
Digital devices also provide ease of storage, nowadays due to nanotechnology massive amounts of information could be stored in small spaces. Although cloud-based computing has revolutionized the data storage capabilities, storage in electronic devices still holds relevance. The ease of GPS and Mapping has made it extremely convenient to find locations, point out position accuracy, updates on road closure and traffic jams in real-time, and the estimated time of arrival at destination.
The emergence of digital selling
According to research, there are around 12 million eCommerce sites across the entire world, and with every passing day, the numbers are increasing at an enormous pace. Back then when people used to visit malls and shops to buy, but over the last ten years, the trend has changed, and now millions of people prefer to shop online. The digital transformation recently escalated rapidly after the Covid hit, and there was a major increase recorded in online purchasing.
The digital presence has reshaped the entire landscape, and purchases of essentials like groceries, transferring money, and paying bills are done digitally. Although there are still few countries where digitization has not yet been embraced, most of the world has realized the significance of digitization. Businesses that were following their traditional business model are now taking one step forward to a digital world in order to stay competitive in the market.
The emergence of social media trends has boosted the eCommerce industry, and the impact of social media presence on online selling has been quite prominent over the last couple of years. More than 70% of businesses are engaged in social networking in order to achieve their marketing objectives and more than 70% of consumers are found to be providing feedback and recommendations of social media platforms.
How digitization has negatively affected the way of life?
Although digitization has provided ease in numerous ways and the world has managed to benefit a lot from its existence, it would not be right to say that it is perfect and does not impact society in a negative way. Obviously, the benefit derived from digitization could not be matched with its drawbacks but still, it is also important to address the negative aspects of digitization. The growth of digitization has come along with its issues like Data Security, Complexity, privacy concerns, job security, anonymity, and fake personas, addiction, social alienation, and a few more.
Conclusion
The emergence of cloud computing and Artificial intelligence would probably bring the next tech revolution in upcoming years and digitization would evolve further. The smartest way to optimize the existence of digitization is to embrace it while considering the negative impact it.
Kim Marks 
Nina Smith 
Lana