PPB December 2018

by Audrey Sellers Techno l ogy T echnology has transformed how we live our lives. In many ways, it has made life better, easier and more fun. We can utter a command (“Alexa, turn on the light!”) or push a button to do virtually anything. Technological marvels such as self-parking cars, smartphone-controlled homes and smartwatches that reveal sleep patterns may have once seemed futuristic but have become integrated into today’s world. You might even soon see drones dropping packages or your dinner order on your doorstep. Amazon received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a drone that adjusts its behavior depending on reactions from human bystanders. Author Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable frommagic.” Many people aren’t just fascinated by technology; they depend on it. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans say they can’t live without the internet, according to Statista. Sixty-eight percent of people say they sleep with their smartphones at their bedsides, according to TIME , and 29 percent say it’s the first and last thing they look at every day. Overall, almost half Promotions 2.0 With a little forward-thinking ingenuity, promotional products companies can create next-level campaigns for technology clients. GROW 44 | DECEMBER 2018 |