Learn the top five things you need to know about British technology
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Intro |
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| Gina: Hello and welcome to Englishclass101.com. |
| Gabriella: I’m your host Gabriella. |
| Gina: And I’m Gina. In this series, we will teach you the various aspects of British business. |
| Gabriella: The Top Five Things You Need to Know About British Technology. In this lesson, we will bring British technology to you! |
| BODY |
| Gina: Let’s start by giving a brief overview of technology and talking about the top five things you need to know. |
| Gabriella: Okay, what’s the first thing we’re going to talk about, Gina? |
| Gina: Number 5 is that technology is old… but new. Isn’t that a contradiction? |
| Gabriella: It sounds like it, doesn’t it? Technology is supposed to be new, about the future and not old and about the past, but that isn’t entirely true. |
| Gina: I think you should expand! |
| Gabriella: Let’s use mobile phones and home computing as examples. Twenty years ago, mobile phone networks were only beginning to open and computers were only just starting to appear in our homes. |
| Gina: They’re pretty new technologies when you think about it. |
| Gabriella: But did you know that the first mobile phone calls were actually made in 1924? |
| Gina: Really? That long ago? I didn’t realise mobile technology was that old. |
| Gabriella: Well, exactly. Time flies, doesn’t it?! A lot of the new technology that we have today was first proved possible many years ago. It just takes time for it to be perfected and made affordable for people to buy. So technology is both new… and old. |
| Gina: Ah, I understand now! Let’s move onto number 4 – it changes rapidly. Doesn’t that contradict number 5? |
| Gabriella: Yes… and no. But mainly no! Let’s go back to mobile phones. It may have taken sixty years from the first phone call to when phones were made readily available, but once they were available the technology changed so quickly and it is still changing. |
| Gina: Yeah, I remember those 80s phones. They were heavy and reminded us of bricks! They couldn’t do anything but receive calls and had very basic screens with little battery life. Phones now can do anything – they are like mini-computers in the palm of your hand. |
| Gabriella: And they keep doing more and more with every new phone release. Once the initial product has been released, then technology moves quickly! |
| Gina: Number 3 is that it is addictive. |
| Gabriella: This leads on from the last point of how quickly technology moves. Imagine you’ve just bought a new computer. It’s top of the range – it has the best graphics card, lots of memory, a huge hard drive and can run every game and piece of software that has been released. |
| Gina: That sounds very expensive! I wish I could have a computer like that as it sounds amazing. |
| Gabriella: It is amazing… for about three months {laughter} |
| Gina: {laughter} Ah… then something with a better graphics card, more memory and a bigger hard drive comes out, doesn’t it? |
| Gabriella: Yes, exactly. Then new games come out that don’t run properly on your PC because the graphics card isn’t good enough. There are new versions of the software you own that do more, but won’t run smoothly because your memory isn’t powerful enough. What do you do? |
| Gina: I’d have to buy a new one or upgrade. |
| Gabriella: But your old computer works fine. It still runs the games and software you were using when you bought it. |
| Gina: But it’s no longer the best and doesn’t do everything! I want the best and I want to be able to play that new game. |
| Gabriella: And that’s why technology is addictive. Once you have something that can do everything, but a new product comes out that does it even better, or does more, it’s so tempting to buy something new despite the fact that what you already own is fine. |
| Gina: The same happens with mobile phones, TVs and everything, doesn’t it? People always upgrade and try to keep up with new products. |
| Gabriella: Yes, and it’s very expensive to do that! |
| Gina: I think I’ll stick with my old computer. Our next point, number 2, is that technology is a tool. |
| Gabriella: I think we all know of technology’s uses as a form of entertainment. The TV, radio, games systems, the internet… we can all waste many happy days with these. |
| Gina: You call it a waste, I call it relaxing. I love being able to watch live broadcasts that are happening halfway across the world. |
| Gabriella: Relaxing is good! And yeah, I love watching sports events live and as they happen. Technology has done a wonderful job of making the world small and bringing us all together. |
| Gina: Yeah, thanks to technology I can make video phone calls across the world, just as easily as writing a letter. Well, it’s probably easier as I don’t have to leave the house! |
| Gabriella: But technology is also an important tool. For companies, it is technology that enables them to manufacture their goods on a large scale. It is technology that tracks their orders, ensures they are going to the right places and then calculates their profits. |
| Gina: With companies becoming more and more global, it’s essential that technology is able to keep up with their growth. |
| Gabriella: Technology also works as a tool in the home. You can use it to organise your own budget, to help you with your homework and of course, your language learning. |
| Gina: Technology makes our daily lives not only more enjoyable, but also easier. |
| Gabriella: Exactly. |
| Gina: The last thing that you need to know, our number 1 thing, is that technology will shape the future. |
| Gabriella: This is our last point because it is the most important one, I think. As technology develops, more opportunities open up to us. The internet, for example, has changed the way so many of us think. We have access to so much information now and so much more of the world is there at our fingertips. |
| Gina: Yeah, I think that you can see how much of an impact the internet has had. We’re more connected and internationalised than we used to be. The generations that have grown up with the internet have a broader world view. |
| Gabriella: It’s the same with companies. Multinational companies are becoming more and more common and it’s becoming easier to build a presence in a foreign country. |
| Gina: Things like medical science have changed the world too. Diseases that would have killed us in years gone by or would have seriously affected our lives can now be dealt with. |
| Gabriella: We don’t know what technology will bring in the future so we don’t know yet how our lives will change. We can be sure though, from history, that technology will change the way we live. |
| Gina: It’s an exciting time, don’t you think? |
| Gabriella: I certainly think so! |
| Gina: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. |
Outro |
| Gabriella: Thanks for listening, everyone! |
| Gina: And see you next time! |
| Gabriella: Bye! |
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