Technology and World Change (Session 9)

Technology and World Change

Session 9

Brief Overview

In this session, we talked about what was in store for the future. The technology of the future and the possibilities that lie ahead of us were just impeccable. There were pieces of technology that were very intriguing and could also possibly be the solution to many of our problems that we face today. I will be delving a little into that in the following sections.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

There was a video showed in class today titled “Plastic Electronics” which shows flexible technology. It was really interesting to see how these plastic electronics actually work. One example of a product created by the company located in Cambridge was a flexible electronic book you can bend. I thought that was amazing because the mention of an electronic book does not usually call for us to think of a flexible electronic book that bends but more of a tablet such as the iPad where the books are stored in one of the applications. It was mentioned in the video that the silicone components in the electronics have the potential to make devices a lot lighter and cheaper. One brilliant idea brought up in class was about the potential of this piece of technology that could promote education in countries that do not have access to the Internet or even technology. Because of the lighter and cheaper materials being used, more tablets or even the flexible electronic books could be created and dispersed to the children in developing countries to help them learn. They could gain access to the Internet and learn through using these devices, the goal of achieving universal education for all children could be a stone’s throw away because of this piece of technology. I do believe that this piece of technology might possibly be the solution to many of our current problems.

Another observation made in class today was about augmented reality. In my draft report outline, I did mention a little bit about augmented reality. I think this sort of technology has so much potential in the way we do things, it could change our lifestyles from the way we shop, learn and play. It really is exciting! According to the video screened in class, all you need is a smart phone with a camera to find out what you want. More specifically, that particular video titled “Augmented Reality – Explained by Commoncraft”, was talking about finding out more about the world around us. Where we want to eat, history of buildings and so on and so forth. The video also talked about the future of augmented reality such as how it may be integrated into the glasses we wear and how it might show a range of information from different websites. Although, it is important to note that it is still a long way to go before this sort of technology will be commercialized.

Key Takeaways

I feel that the takeaway from this lesson is that the future of technology and how it will change the world is just vastly beyond our imagination. We will never really know what’s in store for us until it really happens but I guess that is the exciting part of emerging or future technologies. We never really know what we need until we actually need it. Just as how in lesson, it was explained that no one really knew that needed a Walkman until it was released. From that point on, everybody needed one. Throughout the past 10 weeks or so, we were constantly reminded about the importance of innovation and invention. And I think when it comes to talking about the future; these characteristics are just crucial and essential. Without them, we will remain stagnant and no progress will be made. Steve Jos mentioned, “Innovation distinguishes the leader from the follower.” How can anyone ever lead if they are just going to follow the path of whoever is ahead of you? We have to be different, try new things and come up with something clever, then we innovate and invent and start up a new “movement”.

Issues for Further Discussion

I felt that the lesson could have discussed more about how these emerging or future technologies could benefit the developing countries and how help might be rendered to these places. Even though we did mention in briefly, I felt that we could dedicate more time to talking about these issues, such as how these some of these technology can be aligned with the UN Millennium Goals.

Personal Ratings

7 out of 10 for this lesson! Really felt quite excited about what the future could bring and how this could have a tremendous impact in our lives, from the way we learn, work, play and live. Also, how technology has so much potential to make this world a better place, in terms of reaching out to the less developed.