How much do we take for granted when it comes to technology?

Like most people, there's a lot of technology I take for granted. But every so often I stop and think about how things were in the past, whether since I've been around, or in previous eras. When it comes to technology like the internet and mobile phones, as far as youngsters are concerned they have always been here. So how can we get kids to appreciate the effects of technology on society, a requirement in many general IT courses, when as far as they're concerned there is nothing special about the existence of the technology?