In Signal Traffic, it is pointed out that “large scale infrastructure are core to the experience of modernity”, and “to be modern is to live within and by means of infrastructures.” I think this point is very well demonstrated by the ubiquitous application of 4G technology in our daily life. When it first came into being, many people thought that it was not really necessary for thins new thing to become a part of our daily life, few of us could really imagine the huge changes it later on brought to almost every aspect of our life.
All those changes brought by 4G technology can be generalized into one thing: things that I could not do on my cell phone can now be done very conveniently on my phone. For example, 4G enables me to watch any videos that I see on social media anytime when I want, as long as I am at somewhere where the signal is good enough. If I want to call someone, I can choose to use the voice call function WeChat, or I can facetime with someone and all I need is my iPhone, while in the past, video chat is better done on computers because the network speed is faster to ensure that the image on screen would not freeze a lot. Many things that we need to do are no longer confined by the place we are in. No more “save it for later” or “wait till I get to somewhere with network”. The technology makes people’s life much more convenient and provides people a more modern way of life that has fewer limits and confines.
In China, the widespread use of online payment methods like WeChat pay and Alipay also are the products of 4G technology. I remember when I was in senior high school about 6 years ago, online payment was not that ubiquitous in China but beginning from the time when I was in college, I gradually saw the QR code for online payment literally everywhere, even at wet markets or from street vendors who I suppose were not familiar with this newly-appeared technology. The development of online payment is so wild that today, it is very possible that people may find that they have not been using paper money or swiping a credit card for a very long time. They just suddenly disappeared in our life one day without us noticing their leaving because we have become so used to the convenience brought by online payment methods. The maturely-developed 4G technology in China as a kind of infrastructure makes online payment a universal phenomenon. Going out without taking one’s wallet releases some worries or burdens one may have and it also represents a more modern way of life : one can go anywhere as long as a cell phone is with him or her.
We are now deeply connected with various kinds of infrastructures in our life in a way that perhaps we may not notice enough, but if one day those infrastructures fail or break down, they become all too “visible” when they take away all the conveniences in our present modern life.
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