People like to give technology a bad rap, saying that it keeps people from what really matters—like eye contact and fresh air.  Despite the negative consequences of too much technology, society has still benefited from the power of advanced capabilities.  Here are just a few (of many) of those benefits that technology provides us.

Easy Money

Transferring money, budgeting, and purchasing goods have never been easier. Developers have released a slew of apps dedicated to transferring money between friends, coworkers, and family members, making it incredibly less awkward to go to lunch together or to pick up coffee for everyone in the office. Budgeting is simpler, too. Manage your bank account, credit cards, and personal finances with just a few clicks of the mouse. Know where your money is (and isn’t) and know exactly where you are for the month, the day, all the way down to the minute. Then, turn around and use this budgeting to purchase goods from just about anywhere in the world. Experience things that never could have been experienced before, and stretch your dollar further than you ever thought you could.

Easy Conversations

From phone calls and emails to texting and video chatting, it’s no big deal for the family to gather around the laptop to say goodnight to your parents who live on the other side of the country. Thanks to advanced communication technologies, a whole lot of other things are also “no big deal”—like remote employees, long-distance relationships, and intercontinental business meetings.

Easy Traveling

Do you remember what it was like to book a hotel pre-Google? Or to find directions pre-MapQuest? For most people, this is a memory they don’t necessarily want to recall. Technology has certainly made traveling a less stressful experience by having the ability to compare over a hundred hotel rates on one screen and quickly reroute yourself to account for traffic, freeways, and available gas stations and drive-thrus.

Easy Updates

Interested in knowing what’s going on in the world? Technology has made the process of staying up-to-date with the world incredibly easy. Read about it, listen to it, or watch it; the choice is yours. Most popular news outlets maintain a TV channel, live web streaming, and an online written publication, allowing anyone from anywhere to stay fully up-to-date, throughout the day, minute-by-minute—from the kitchen to the car, into the cubical, at the store, and back to the kitchen.