How Technology and the Internet Have Changed Christmas

Dec 25, 2021 | News and Media

Technological advancement over the years and the Internet have changed Christmas, celebrations, and human communication.

In the 19th century, Christmas was hardly celebrated. It was not before the end of the century that it became an annual celebration that started to spread around the world. Since then, transformation, adaptation, and the influence of important technological advancements have reshaped the Holiday Season.

In England, the change is attributed to Queen Victoria, who married German-born Prince Albert in 1840. Prince Albert introduced some of the most prominent aspects of Christmas along with his influence in embracing the emerging technologies that gave a push to the first Industrial Revolution.

A brief account of the main technological advancements from 1840 up to the present

1840 was a significant year in technological advancements. It marked the end of the mechanical age, which is known to have started in 1450. It also marked the beginning of the electromechanical era, which continued until 1940.

Many new technologies emerged during the mechanical and electromechanical eras. Telecommunications, which became important for sending handmade postal cards for Christmas, started in the electromechanical era. This era is known as the Victorian era, which lasted during the reign of Queen Victoria.

The telegraph was created in the early 1800s. Samuel Morse’s Morse Code was created in 1835. The telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell, was created in 1876.

And finally, the first radio developed by Guglielmo Marconi was created in 1894. Thomas Edison invented the bulb also in this era, and the railways got modernized with the coming of the electric trains.

Around 1940, the first large-scale automatic digital computer in the United States was the Mark 1, created by Harvard University. In the electronic era, the time between 1940 and right now, the personal computer was developed by Apple Inc.

the Apple II.

The World Wide Web (www) was invented in 1991 by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee; this is what we still use when we open a browser.

All these technological advancements influenced and changed the way people have celebrated Christmas. However, it was the Internet what really changed everything at a much bigger scale. The Internet not only has changed Christmas but has also changed the way we gift, celebrate, and interact with each other during the holiday season.

A Christmas Carol and technology

Any Christmas would be complete without the spirit of remembering Charles Dickens’ timeless great tale, A Christmas Carol, published in 1843. Let’s playfully link the evolution of the technological advancement to Dicken’s Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

After all, Dickens’ novel has been credited with helping to spread the traditions of the festive season encapsulating the spirit of the Victorian Christmas. If you have not read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, I urge you to read this classic of the English literature. You can get the book here.

Christmas past technology (or, the Ghost of Christmas Past)

In the past, Christmas trees were decorated with candles, gingerbread, candies, fruit, and some other handmade ornaments and small gifts. They looked beautiful, indeed. Yet, they were terribly dangerous to keep in the house.

There was a time when Christmas cards were handmade. They were decorated with little dry flowers, drawings, and other natural things such as dry leaves. They were given to friends and relatives, mostly in person. They were a gift, in many cases the only one. Queen Victoria herself made handmade Christmas cards for her family.

Giving Christmas cards to friends and family continues to be a tradition in England, and in other parts of the world. Very rarely you will see a handmade Christmas card, though.

The tradition of giving and receiving gifts has also changed by technology at different times in history. In the same way people in the past used to make their own Christmas cards, they also handmade most of the gifts they would give for Christmas.

They knitted scarves, gloves, hats, and sweaters, and handmade wooden things among other handcrafts. Not many gifts were bought in the Christmas past.

Christmas present technology (or, the Ghost of Christmas Present)

Handmade Christmas cards were replaced by commercial cards, and by e-Cards when the Internet became mainstream. Yet, another evolution on how people send Holiday Greetings is video. The video became widely used and accessible with smartphones.

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts. – Charles Dickens

The most obvious thing about how technology has changed Christmas is in consumer behavior. In-store shopping has been replaced in good part by online shopping.

In-store shopping replaced homemade gifts with all sorts of things one can buy. More recently, the Internet has made possible what many consider shopping paradise: Online shopping and next day home delivery. Christmas shopping is a few clicks away.

From the comfort of their own home people can buy all the Christmas presents they need, or do not need. There is even an option for sending a Christmas gift card by email, for those late shoppers who ran out of time.

A few clicks here and there and all Christmas shopping is done. Shopping is now easier and faster. Play some Christmas Carols on Spotify, sip some hot chocolate, and pretty much online Christmas shopping has all the traditional elements less the crowds. Christmas trees have also changed. Commercial ornaments and LED lights are now everywhere. Handmade decorations were replaced by plastic ones.

Technology gadgets are the most wanted Christmas presents expected by both adults and children. There are rarely handmade gifts, like in the past. Mobile communications made it easy to send text messages and WhatsApp friends and family around the world. Video calls make it possible for family members to join from anywhere in the world.

Twitter and Facebook have influenced the Holiday Season making it even easier to send one single greeting with a photo of the family tree nicely decorated to hundreds of people simultaneously. One click and a Christmas greeting reaches thousands, if not millions of people.

Rarely you will see personalized greetings in the Christmas present. On the bright side, postal delays from snail mail are a thing of the past. Everyone receives their digital greetings in perfect time, paper-free.

A simple Instagram update around Christmas Day is enough. This can be updated with short videos and snap pictures. Digital Christmas and instant gratification is what the Christmas present is all about.

Technology has made it possible to bring families and friends together in times when traveling is not a possible option. Video calling and chats allow families to virtually be together at the Christmas dinner table when members of the family live scattered around the world.

Technology shapes the way we share and communicate at a cultural level. Everything is tweeted, recorded, instagrammed, uploaded, shared, liked, and retweeted at a pace that leaves little room for analyzing the real meaning of it all. The day after, all is forgotten.

Christmas future technology (or, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come)

In terms of the technology yet to come, we can expect some more significant changes in the next few years that will also affect the Holiday Season. However, if Christmas will still be around in the long distant future is hard to tell. Perhaps one day it becomes like one of those celebrations that existed in the past but exist no more.

In the future, people will be able to send Holiday greetings as a hologram, or delivered by a robot, just like we have seen R2D2 delivering Princess Leia’s message to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Holiday greetings will also be sent to a personal Virtual Reality device. The technology of the future could include time travel or teleportation.

In that spirit, let’s refresh some basic human values before we get too wired up by too much technology in the Holiday Season.

Let’s just technologically evolve wisely and keep some human values alive before they go completely extinct

Despite any change that technology may bring in the future, it is always good to remember:

Communication: The best communication is always face-to-face. Some things cannot be expressed through screens or virtual technologies. No technology can replace what one can say through the eyes when having a deep conversation with someone.

Gifts: The best gifts are invisible to the eye and do not cost anything. The gift of sharing moments with family, friends, and other dear ones cannot be wrapped in a box with a pretty red ribbon. Yet, not everyone is fortunate enough to have friends or family for the Holidays. Appreciation and gratitude for such precious gifts must be remembered in the Holiday Season.

Techfonet Wishes you all a Happy Merry Christmas and Prosperous new year. Thank you all for given as the opportunity to do business with you. See you again in 2022. Remember Techfonet is IT Support Company, we offer IT Services such as IT Support and Outsourcing, Managed IT Services and many more… You can always reach us www.techfonet.com

IT Support Service providers

Dec 24, 2021 | Managed IT Services

Six Reasons Your Company Needs IT Support Service Providers

IT Support service providers

Running a business is all about balancing the needs of the business against the cost of paying someone to do those jobs. One of the most commonly outsourced jobs is for IT support service providers. These are where you get the benefits of an IT support person or a team without the need to employ them fully or part-time within the company. Here are some of the reasons why it might be the ideal solution for your company.

1.IT Support Service providers is the better way of cost management

Managing those costs for start-ups and SMEs is the key to initial success. Even for larger, established businesses, careful cost management underpins successful growth. The cost of having a service that stops functioning, such as customer databases, websites, or even ordering systems, can cost the business in terms of revenue and loss of reputation. So, using outsourced IT support service providers offer better cost management than having someone working in the company all the time – you pay as you use it.

2. Get the right tech solutions

Part of making your business stand out from its competitors can be the use of the right tech solutions that offer a better customer experience. But finding out what these are can be costly and time-consuming. Working with IT professionals means you can get access to their experience and knowledge as you need it to get the right solutions for your company.

3. Improved company security

IT security is a huge issue, even if your company uses a payment processor to handle those transactions. You need to be able to secure the information you hold on your customers and take reasonable steps to ensure no one can access it. Knowing what those steps are and how to put them into place can be done better when working with an IT support service providers company than just by reading up on the internet.

4. No costly IT investment

If you have an in-house IT specialist, then you need to equip them. That can mean a range of software and even hardware that they need to do their jobs. However, when you outsource it, the company comes with everything they need, so there is no requirement for your business to make a costly IT investment. They may recommend adding or amending software or changing hardware, but this would be for the company’s use rather than just for IT support use.

5. Efficient disaster recovery

Disaster can strike at any time, no matter how well-prepared your business is. Natural disasters, freak storms, and fires—all of these can cause serious harm to your company and damage IT systems. By working with IT specialists to set up a disaster management plan, you can ensure you have backups in place that will ensure if the worst does happen, your company can recover as quickly as possible from it.

6. Get the latest tech first

As with any expert, they always have knowledge of the latest and greatest developments in their industry. That means you can utilize their knowledge to make improvements in your IT systems and hardware that will benefit your business. It will also reduce the chance of you making mistakes in purchasing something that turns out not to be the best solution for the job you wanted.

Professional on hand

Outsourcing roles such as IT support service providers, bookkeeping, and marketing is now a common path for businesses of all sizes to take. By having the right professional on hand but not on permanent payroll, you can get the benefits of their expertise without the need to employ them within the company.

For more information, get in touch with our team today.

Important of Managed IT support Services

Dec 24, 2021 | Managed IT Services

4 Core reasons why you should consider Outsourcing your IT Support to us

IT Support. Today, Technology changes is at a lightning-fast pace. Technically increasing productivity and collaboration and keeping up with the evolving Technology landscape can be both challenging and time-consuming.

Additionally, as a business grows, its IT support requirements will inevitably change. Allowing a managed services provider (MSP) to shoulder IT responsibility can help reduce costs, increase efficiency and provide scalable systems that enable your business to gain a secure and controlled IT infrastructure.
As a qualified and reliable managed services provider, we offer a wide range of benefits to organizations of all sizes. We’ve outlined four key benefits our clients are experiencing by outsourcing their IT Support to us.

1. Cost Savings

One of the greatest incentives to partner with Techfonet as your Managed IT Services Provider is our extreme cost effectiveness. With us, organizations can:

Techfonet operates on a subscription-based model where clients pay monthly fees for service rendered, allowing them to foresee if it is feasible to remain within their budget. Clients receive a service level agreement (SLA) that’s customized to their company’s precise needs, allowing them to efficiently manage hardware and software, increasing productivity and reducing the total cost of application ownership. Techfonet clients typically pay for the service they require, rather than for expensive packages with extraneous services they don’t need.

2. Focus on Core Business

As a business flourishes, employees may be required to take on an ever-expanding scope of IT responsibilities which fall outside of their original roles. As IT support responsibilities increase, it becomes difficult for employees to focus on their primary job tasks. Furthermore, it may eventually become necessary for them to prioritize those IT tasks to avoid downtime.

To allow both technical and non-technical employees to manage their time better and improve work efficiency, put the responsibility of IT management in the hands of a dedicated team of experts.

Our IT Outsourcing can help businesses to stay focused on revenue generating activities and innovation. Let us handle your IT tasks and all its requirements and free your employees to get their core work done more efficiently without the distraction of technical troubleshooting.

3. Improved Vendor Management

We interface with vendors on behalf of your company, ensuring that all issues the business encounters are troubleshot and resolved promptly. We will serve as the main point of contact for third parties and escalate issues to appropriate vendor and track the process through to resolution.

Vendor coordination can be a complicated juggling act, and employees without significant experience working with them can be overwhelmed or caught unprepared.

Outsourcing all vendors management to us, removed the pain and the time consuming of working with multiple vendors. We are a single trusted partner as a coordinator streamlines operations and avoids unnecessarily burdening an employee with a task that is best left to subject matter experts.

4. Scalability

Given the rate of technological advancements and the fact that businesses need to scale resources up or down on demand, scalability is vital to supporting business growth and development. As a company expands, it should anticipate unexpected hurdles, one being when technology requirements outgrow available resources. We will provide support and services as needed to handle growth spurts or emerging IT problems.

Because scalable solutions can accommodate rapid changes, they also help firms stay productive, improve system availability and eliminate downtime. Additionally, we will address all your business technical pain points and remain responsive to the needs, both short term and long term. We are high quality Managed Service Provider, proactively explore and identify enhancements for improvement in support of the key business objectives.