I cannot ignore the irony that this question could not have been posted and answered without the technology that makes venues like Enotes available on a large scale. Conversely, in the past, we might have engaged someone on a personal level to find opinions on various subjects. As with any innovation something gained results in something lost. The virtual world versus face to face interaction could be compared to the study of modern art in place of the Old Masters or Toni Morrison instead of Charles Dickens. As a person who lived before Iphones and Internet were available, I would be lying if I said that I don't love the magic of research that can yield hundreds of instant results. On the other hand, I feel a little sad that most children today don't have the fun of imagining their own dragons and knights in shining armor because the image is created virtually for them. Consequently, I would have to admit that my opinion of the merits of technology has me in a quagmire of ambiguity.

It is clearly possible to argue this issue either way.  My own view is that technology has made our lives easier.

You can argue that technology has made life harder.  You can argue that it takes away our free time by making sure that our bosses at work can always reach us, even when we are at home.  You can argue that it makes us less secure.  It makes it easier for criminals to steal our identities.  It makes it easier for them to stalk our children.  Technology also makes it harder to protect our privacy from the government.  As we have seen recently in the US, the government can use technology to intrude on our lives in many ways.

All that being said, I would still argue that we are better off with technology.  At the very least, medical technology has improved our lives tremendously.  We no longer have to live with conditions that would have been debilitating even a decade or two ago.  Communications technology has also made life easier.  Parents can feel more secure knowing that they can always reach their children by cell phone and that their children can always reach them.  The internet makes life easier for those who want to get information and to have ways to entertain themselves.

In my view, the positive impacts of technology are much greater than the negative.  Technology helps us in numerous ways every day and only rarely ends up hurting us.