This session is the final session in which Prof will be teaching us! Phew, 11 weeks have passed and we have all learned so much from all our mods, including TWC. This week's topic is a good topic that summarizes what we have learnt so far, by looking into the future.
Technological assessment and forecasting involves the predictions of future technology that will impact the world. We need to take into consideration what changes this innovation may bring in terms of economic, social, environmental etc. Definitely we need to consider what is priority, what would bring about the most useful changes, before deciding on the distribution of limited resources onto these technologies.
Some of the types of technology that can be forecasted would be mind gears which essentially enable you to control your actions with your mind. this is extremely useful for handicapped people in particular who are disadvantaged, and also a good form or entertainment for video games.
I thought the above video shown in class was a really good video with the most common future technologies condensed into one video. They are also the future technologies that are thought to have the most potential in being revolutionary innovations that can impact the world significantly.
Kevin's presentation was particularly intriguing. He discussed the topic of the future of work, given the exponential rate in which technology is developing now. It is possible that in the future most of our work will be done by robots. Although this may directly cause unemployment in the labour industry, I agree that we should eventually let robots take over. For jobs like cleaning or repetitive factory jobs, it is pointless to let a human with all its potential to do the job. Instead, most of our workforce can be directed towards more knowledge-based industry. Of course with this in mind, there are bound to be issues, for example it will be a disadvantage towards people born with a low IQ or any other disadvantages. However it still remains to be a good assessment that we can take into consideration.
Overall it was a good lesson and it makes me think about the future and how we should do things now in order to be able to achieve the future of technology that we are predicting now. Overall I would rate this lesson 7.5/10.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
#9
This week's topic was on Emerging Technology. This week is specially significant to me because of course, it's my individual presentation week! Also, it is the topic I anticipated the most because it sounds the most interesting and probably was one of the most interesting lessons so far.
The lesson kicked off with one of my favorite quotes quoted in the slides:
The quote explains so much about emerging technology. It requires us to have an extremely open mindset, to accept what seems impossible and make it possible. The lesson follows with Prof discussing some of the drivers for emerging technology. One example is the idea of supply creating demand. I thought this point was particularly interesting especially since it is applicable to my topical review paper. For technology that does not yet exist, of course we would not imagine how we could need them. But once it emerges, the existence of the product itself makes us realize how much we really need it, and in turn creates its own demand. I stated the same point in my topical review paper for smartphones, that we never knew we needed smartphones until they actually became a revolutionary product. Now, we can barely live without it. In the same sense, I believe this is a strong driver for emerging technology. Once we realize that we need it, it is a strong driver for the emerging technology to become a revolutionary one.
Several examples of emerging technology would be augmented reality, robotics, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence systems. Several interesting videos were shown in class today, the memorable ones being the video on augmented reality and a video on the 'ideal woman'.
I'm not going to lie, Lisa kinda scares me. Yes she does have human-like features, but she is so obviously a robot. It's disturbing to actually watch a robot take the form of a human and still be very robotic. I honestly would feel more at ease if the robot has the metallic look we're used to. Haha.
But of course, that's besides the point.
Lisa was designed to be 'the perfect woman', to satisfy all the needs of the many single men in the world. To me, although this idea is fascinating and I am indeed impressed by the technology involved, I definitely do not approve of such a technology attracting high demand from the world. It indeed redefines what it means to be 'human'. Not to mention, my peer in the class later on presented on robots that are capable of love. One day, we may no longer know where to draw the line between robots and humans.
This week's presentations were all interesting and good. I liked Ryan's presentation on nanotechnology. He focused on the idea of having a robotic arm that can enhance your physical performance greatly. For handicapped people, definitely this idea is appealing. But what about to people with perfectly functioning arms? Now we may think that we would never want something robotic and 'fake', but in the future if it starts to become revolutionary, we may realize we want this robotic arm for the extra power and capability.
For me, I presented on augmented reality and its possibilities. Having done a lot of research for this presentation, I realized how close yet far augmented reality really is. We already have many applications of AR, but most of us don't really know about it. I myself have an Android phone but had no idea Layar and under AR devices were available, free to download. Of course currently this applications are limited, but the fact that it has already existed for some time, is surprising. Yet, why do I say that it is far? Because AR comes with a lot of obstacles and limitations. Mostly, the idea of AR for information purposes is unable to expand that far recently because of issues of privacy. Being able to know who the person sitting next to you exactly is, get access to his network information... these are things that raise issues on privacy. Of course, one can always edit his phone settings to disallow sharing of information. This also is a reason why AR could not expand. We are not yet ready to embrace the idea of being fully connected and being able to know everything about anything with just one touch of a finger.
The various forms of emerging technology are indeed fascinating. Definitely, it requires us to have an open mind to embrace it so that it can finally 'emerge'.
This lesson covered plenty of discussion topics. I would rate it 10/10. Best lesson so far. (:
The lesson kicked off with one of my favorite quotes quoted in the slides:
You see things and you say, 'Why?'
But I dream things that never were and I say, 'Why not?'
But I dream things that never were and I say, 'Why not?'
The quote explains so much about emerging technology. It requires us to have an extremely open mindset, to accept what seems impossible and make it possible. The lesson follows with Prof discussing some of the drivers for emerging technology. One example is the idea of supply creating demand. I thought this point was particularly interesting especially since it is applicable to my topical review paper. For technology that does not yet exist, of course we would not imagine how we could need them. But once it emerges, the existence of the product itself makes us realize how much we really need it, and in turn creates its own demand. I stated the same point in my topical review paper for smartphones, that we never knew we needed smartphones until they actually became a revolutionary product. Now, we can barely live without it. In the same sense, I believe this is a strong driver for emerging technology. Once we realize that we need it, it is a strong driver for the emerging technology to become a revolutionary one.
Several examples of emerging technology would be augmented reality, robotics, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence systems. Several interesting videos were shown in class today, the memorable ones being the video on augmented reality and a video on the 'ideal woman'.
I'm not going to lie, Lisa kinda scares me. Yes she does have human-like features, but she is so obviously a robot. It's disturbing to actually watch a robot take the form of a human and still be very robotic. I honestly would feel more at ease if the robot has the metallic look we're used to. Haha.
But of course, that's besides the point.
Lisa was designed to be 'the perfect woman', to satisfy all the needs of the many single men in the world. To me, although this idea is fascinating and I am indeed impressed by the technology involved, I definitely do not approve of such a technology attracting high demand from the world. It indeed redefines what it means to be 'human'. Not to mention, my peer in the class later on presented on robots that are capable of love. One day, we may no longer know where to draw the line between robots and humans.
This week's presentations were all interesting and good. I liked Ryan's presentation on nanotechnology. He focused on the idea of having a robotic arm that can enhance your physical performance greatly. For handicapped people, definitely this idea is appealing. But what about to people with perfectly functioning arms? Now we may think that we would never want something robotic and 'fake', but in the future if it starts to become revolutionary, we may realize we want this robotic arm for the extra power and capability.
For me, I presented on augmented reality and its possibilities. Having done a lot of research for this presentation, I realized how close yet far augmented reality really is. We already have many applications of AR, but most of us don't really know about it. I myself have an Android phone but had no idea Layar and under AR devices were available, free to download. Of course currently this applications are limited, but the fact that it has already existed for some time, is surprising. Yet, why do I say that it is far? Because AR comes with a lot of obstacles and limitations. Mostly, the idea of AR for information purposes is unable to expand that far recently because of issues of privacy. Being able to know who the person sitting next to you exactly is, get access to his network information... these are things that raise issues on privacy. Of course, one can always edit his phone settings to disallow sharing of information. This also is a reason why AR could not expand. We are not yet ready to embrace the idea of being fully connected and being able to know everything about anything with just one touch of a finger.
The various forms of emerging technology are indeed fascinating. Definitely, it requires us to have an open mind to embrace it so that it can finally 'emerge'.
This lesson covered plenty of discussion topics. I would rate it 10/10. Best lesson so far. (:
Monday, October 17, 2011
#8
Week 8 focuses on Energy and World Change (Past, Present and Future).
This session basically focuses on energy sustainability in the world today, given the endless wants and needs of humans today. The technology we would need to develop is one that can ensure certain sustainability by increasing efficiency, reduction technology and renewable resources.
The diagram above reflects some of the main sources of energy that we get from the Earth today. Indeed we see that there are so many various ways to derive energy, therefore the possibilities for sustainable energy is endless.
The most feasible form of renewable energy that was discussed in class and in my opinion, would have to be solar energy. The energy given by the sun is most definitely something that can be sustained for a long time and provide for the huge population we have today. Germany, a country that is known to have little sun, is already incorporating the idea of solar energy into their countries. The way they provided the incentives to people is the idea that the people can earn money from each tile of solar energy source that they buy. This results in a revolution throughout some parts of the country, solar energy providing up to 30% of the energy that they consume. This only makes us reflect on our own habits. In Singapore, a country where we complain about the intensity of the sun everyday, it would be even more efficient if we were to turn to solar energy instead. So definitely, we can actually go so far, it's a matter of whether we want to.
Furthermore, other sources like wind energy can also be used. In windy places, windmills can generate a fair amount of energy to provide for the needs of the country.
By making use of natural, clean and renewable resources, we can move forward from the problem of limited resources. At the moment there is the obstacle of it being more expensive, therefore a united effort is definitely needed to move out of the stage.
It of course takes a united effort. One person's changed mindset will not be of much use unless that person has the capacity to make changes. Eventually all of us have to realize where we're heading to by not using renewable energy, and to add on to that, I think we need a real, harsh wake up call before we would finally make the switch.
Overall, I would rate the session 7/10. The topic is not of great interest to me, but the class discussions were insightful and I have picked up several useful lessons.
This session basically focuses on energy sustainability in the world today, given the endless wants and needs of humans today. The technology we would need to develop is one that can ensure certain sustainability by increasing efficiency, reduction technology and renewable resources.
The diagram above reflects some of the main sources of energy that we get from the Earth today. Indeed we see that there are so many various ways to derive energy, therefore the possibilities for sustainable energy is endless.
The most feasible form of renewable energy that was discussed in class and in my opinion, would have to be solar energy. The energy given by the sun is most definitely something that can be sustained for a long time and provide for the huge population we have today. Germany, a country that is known to have little sun, is already incorporating the idea of solar energy into their countries. The way they provided the incentives to people is the idea that the people can earn money from each tile of solar energy source that they buy. This results in a revolution throughout some parts of the country, solar energy providing up to 30% of the energy that they consume. This only makes us reflect on our own habits. In Singapore, a country where we complain about the intensity of the sun everyday, it would be even more efficient if we were to turn to solar energy instead. So definitely, we can actually go so far, it's a matter of whether we want to.
Furthermore, other sources like wind energy can also be used. In windy places, windmills can generate a fair amount of energy to provide for the needs of the country.
By making use of natural, clean and renewable resources, we can move forward from the problem of limited resources. At the moment there is the obstacle of it being more expensive, therefore a united effort is definitely needed to move out of the stage.
It of course takes a united effort. One person's changed mindset will not be of much use unless that person has the capacity to make changes. Eventually all of us have to realize where we're heading to by not using renewable energy, and to add on to that, I think we need a real, harsh wake up call before we would finally make the switch.
Overall, I would rate the session 7/10. The topic is not of great interest to me, but the class discussions were insightful and I have picked up several useful lessons.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Individual Topical Review Paper Draft
The Seduction of Smartphones
“Disruption is their game.”
i. Specific Innovation of Interest
One of the biggest breakthroughs in technology that we cannnot deny is the development of smartphones. We have grown to be so dependent on this innovation and it has brought about various impacts on the dynamics of the world today in many levels. So how is this innovation such a game-changer? This paper will look at the disruptive innovation that is the smartphone, how it has changed the world and the endless possibilities it encompasses.
ii. Rationale for Selecting this Innovation:
I have selected this topic for my paper because it is now viewed as such an essential game-changer, that many of us can no longer imagine how different our lives would have been (in a negative way) had smartphones not have been invented. Furthermore, the growing reliance on smartphones and the expanding support capabilities of the device is likely to continue causing disruptive changes to the world.
iii. Proposed Approach to Development of Paper:
Executive Summary
Smartphones are ingenious inventions that have quickly taken over the dynamics of how we communicate nowadays, so much so that the more 'normal' phones that we used to depend on are dubbed as 'dumbphones'. They are a combination of the normal feature phone as we know it, together with PDA devices, to create something like a micro-computer that allows for accesibility, constant connectedness and convenience.The smartphone is classified as a disruptive innovation as it was able to challenge and change various markets, as well as revolutionize our personal lives, earning itself a reputation of being one of the many creative innovations that we can no longer live without.
Background/Introduction
Smartphones as we know them today are no longer used just for calling or messaging alone. The smartphone incorporates more advanced functions such as wi-fi & 3G capabilities, interactive 3rd party gaming applications, video calling, touch-screen features, GPS navigation and more. Smartphones has enabled consumers to do all these things in just one device, making this particular innovation a convenient, efficient, important and sometimes a complete necessity for most people. The innovation of smartphones is, arguably, one of the most important development in recent years. The functions of a smartphone can be useful not just as entertainment or social networking but also as platforms for people to do work because of the increasing influence of the internet.
Historical Perspective
The phone as a communicating device dates way back to the 1800s. The earliest distinct form of communication through telephone was an invention that belonged to Alexandra Graham Bell. The development of phones in the following years were confined to wire-based technology that were uncommon at that time and rare to see.
The first mobile phones emerged soon afterwards but were still bulky, expensive and not widely available. The next breakthrough was the development of handheld phones which included basic communicating services.
In more recent times, feature mobile phones were developed, supporting important functions such as games, calendar, calculator, messaging systems and so on.
PDA devices were then created by Windows Mobile, allowing users to reply e-mails and various other internet functions, becoming a hit with businessmen who find them particularly useful.
Finally the smartphone, a fusion of the PDA and the feature phone, was launched, Blackberry taking the lead. Apple became the next significant breakthrough, introducing the iPhone which boasts a full touch screen functionality as well.
Current Situation
Today, smartphones are changing the market in ways we may not have imagined. The smartphone has become a piece of technology that transcends definition. Smartphones are not only changing the market and consumerism, they are also starting to change the way we think or act.
- The definition of a smartphone today.
What is smart?
With the emergence of the iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones that followed, there is a standard and typical set of expectations that encompass smartphones today.
- Touchscreen/QWERTY keypad is the most common design of a smartphone that allows for more user-friendly navigation through its functions
- 3G standards (as compared to 2G standards)
- Functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA): able to send email, messages, has wireless functions etc.
- Supports third party applications
- Web access at high speeds
- Operating systems such as iPhone OS
- The seduction of smartphones.
The smartphone can be said to be something of a necessary temptation. Indeed in the past, the features that the smartphone offers were not needed. We didn’t particularly need internet access everywhere, or the need to be updated 24/7, much a less a gadget that does all of that and more. But ever since the revolution of smartphone, more people have been tempted to purchase this wonderful gadget and the trends have been changing the nature of the market and our behaviours, eventually making a smartphone to be perceived as a necessity now. It has most definitely succeeded in changing the dynamics of the world today.
So what exactly makes the smartphone stand out and lure people in? The smartphone attract people in because of its vast functionality (as listed above) that allows them to acesss so many things, from GPS services to games to instant messaging, that it’s like a micro-computer, convenient and efficient. Another significant lure of the smartphone is its ability to support popular social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and its wireless/3G function that is becoming increasingly relevant due to the increasing use of the Internet for a variety of tasks, ranging from entertainment to work. Due to this, people want smartphones in order to be able to keep informed, connected and entertained in a convenient and accessible manner.
- Economic impacts of the smartphone on the mobile phone market
The downfall of feature phones:
In response to the growing preference of smartphones over feature phones, the direct effect of this is the scramble by mobile phone firms to produce their own differentiated versions of smartphones, in order to stay in the game, if not ahead of it. We are seeing unique developments in each dominant player in attempting to have an edge over its competitors, for example, Blackberry boasts its own messenger system. Each feature seems ‘smarter’ than the previous ones, and the possibilities are endless with the constant motivation to keep innovating. Most of us consumers see no reason to look back on feature phones, except that owning a feature phone is less rough on the wallet. One by one, top mobile phone firms are joining the smartphone market and the focus on feature phones is gradually fading, reflecing that the industry is quickly becoming a falling star at the expense of the smartphone industry being a dominant player.
This fall can be seen in recent figures drawn up to compare performances of the feature phone and the smartphone. Recent ones in 2011 show that feature phone shipments were down 29 per cent at 20.4 million units in the second quarter of this year, while smartphone shipments increased by 48 per cent to 21.8 million units compared to the same period a year ago. This means that smartphone shipments accounted for 52 per cent of all mobile phone shipments. Online charts are predicting the growth of smartphones in the near future, and the percentages are constantly increasing.[i] Also, the following graph highlights the trends of the two products.
Source: http://www.adostrategies.com/blog/tag/smart-phone-penetration/ [ii]
Threat to the wireless industry
Another significant effect that is evident from the development of the smartphone is the threat to the wireless carriers. Free instant messengers have been developed following the introduction of the smartphone, enabling users to chat over the internet instead of cellular networks. And because free instant messengers are more attractive, offering better functions such as being able to communicate to a few parties at once and such, they are becoming more popular than texting. This poses a huge threat to the wireless industry. For example, Skype allows people to make calls without relying on a traditional telephone line. Should this idea catch on and expand, it will be a blow to wireless carriers. With the Blackberry boasting its own Blackberry Messenger, Apple is set to introduce a new service called iMessage, its own version of the Blackberry Messenger. With the two giants in the mobile industry having their own messengers, on top of the other existing messengers such as Skype and WhatsApp, text messaging will be almost void and there may come a day when data plans will no longer include texting plans.
Verizon Wireless alone generates as much as $7 billion a year in revenue from texting, or about 12% in total, and texting brings in about a third of the operating income. With substitutes to text messaging coming up, these wireless carriers are being threatened. The slide in fact has already begun in the Netherlands, where texting traffic is shrinking and profits are eroding. Other top players like Samsung and Google are reportedly also working on such services that would allow users to swap free messages over the internet. [iii]
Threat to other related industries
The effects of smartphones are more far-reaching than it seems on the surface. In fact it has extended its effects towards the third-parties affected by the apps boom on smartphones. They may be altering the use of other devices due to the increasing array of activities they use on smartphones. Devices such as laptops, GPS units, cameras and camcorders seem to be used less frequently by smartphone owners. This means that sales of these third-party businesses are being impacted adversely due to the smartphone and its capabilities. Garner reports that PC Shipments in first quarter of 2011 experienced their first year-over-year decline in six quarters, indicating a weakening demand for consumer PCs that could justifiably be credited partly to smartphone domination.
Riding on the smartphone wave
Many industries have been pushed up by the revolution of smartphones. Particularly, they benefit through the smartphone capability to support third-party applications. The most relevant and popular example would be the games by third-party companies that can be played on smartphones. Through the smartphones, gaming companies are able to attain another outlet for profit and/or boosting reputation. Most games and entertainments offer a free trial for consumers to give them a taste of the application first before selling it. It is so popular and so profitable because it thrives from the nature of smartphones; they allow for easy and quick downloading, cheap prices for these apps, and we bring them virtually everywhere almost without fail, making these apps the ultimate time-killer. Plus of course, the growing popularity of smartphones. The all-popular game ‘Angry Birds’, have crashed the market dramatically, costing only $140k to create but has garnered an estimated $70 million in profits, almost 500 times more, and is one of the most profitable games created. [iv] It is through this iPhone app that the game and consequently firm shoot to popularity, and now there are public competitions and merchandises created after it. The gaming industry is being changed as the smartphone opens up a whole new platform for gaming firms to invest in. In fact, Sony has developed the Xperia Play, a fusion of a gaming console and a smartphone, in an attempt to create the best of both of both worlds.
Another industry bolstered by this innovation is the social networking sites. Popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter have created their own smartphone-friendly versions of the application to make it convenient to people. Twitter CEO Evan Williams blogged recently that 46% of active Twitter users regularly use a mobile device to tweet. In the post, Williams said that the number of users accessing Tiwtter on mobile devices had jumped 62% since mid-April. [v] Smartphone friendly versions are tweaked to ensure that notifications reach consumers’ devices even when they are not currently using the apps. This convenience and accessiblity is increasing consumer usage greatly.
Changing consumerism
Another impact is that consumer habits have been changed due to smartphones. Because so much content can be accessed easily through the smartphones, online shopping is becoming more popular as it is quicker to browse through the net while on the way home rather than physically go shopping. Any consumer that physically shops could be comparing retail prices while inside a shop to judge if they are being offered the best prices out there. A survey conducted found that 43% of smartphone users say they have used their phone specifically in a store to assist with their shopping. Of the respondents who use social networking sites to connect with retailers, 63% use it to find out about promotions and 56% use it to browse products. [vi] Furthermore, it is discovered that 24% of all survey respondents expect retailers to provide access to information through apps and social media. We can see how consumer habits are being changed through the growing influence of smartphones. This will shape the market in the future rather differently than what we are used to.
There is no denying how the smartphone has changed the game for not just the mobile market but the countless markets that are affected by this invention, both in good and bad ways.
- Social impact of the smartphones
Blurring the professional and personal division
The revolution of smartphones has brought to us much convenience, efficiency and connectedness. Because of its multi-functionality, we are able to do so many things on the smartphone, ranging from work to leisure. Smartphones are redefining careers, the family unit, social intercourse, personal perspectives and habits and even academically.
The benefit of smartphones towards careers and school is that it makes us more productive. The constant connectedness we get from smartphones makes it possible for us to reply e-mails and the sorts anywhere and any time we want to. With a smartphone in hand, it is easy to always be on the job and multi-task comfortably. According to Vivek Kundar, chief technology officer for the city of Washington, DC’s IT department, the department are “developing dashboards that are pushed out to smartphones with real-time info based on each employees’ job function, like network and data-center uptime.” About 600 of Kundra’s staff of 760 own smartphones. [vii] Although this relates to greater productivity, it also means increased pressure on the employees to have a greater degree of responsiveness towards clients and bosses through e-mail and/or text messaging. For many professionals attempting to carry out work and personal life, smartphones can be a boon. A father attending his son’s soccer match but not having his mind in the game, but instead on his phone and career, is equals to him not being there. The risk that exists is that the individual becomes a workaholic, whether voluntary or not, due to the constant accessibility.
Even students will not be spared from this double-edged sword of smartphones. Nowadays, more schools are incorporating online learning through discussion forums, blogging and materials online. With a smartphone, students can easily access discussion forums at any time in their own comfort and update themselves with administrative as well as academic matters. The fast-paced nature of such online discussion forums mean that it is more beneficial for a student who owns a smartphone that he brings everywhere and can access content any time compared to a student who do not own one. As such, smartphones enhances the learning experience of the student but at the same time does not spare students from the stress that professionals face from expectations.
On the other hand, the smartphone could also be a double-edged sword. While it increases productivity because more people get things done outside office or school hours, they could also end up being distracted by personal things during times of the day when they are required to get work done.
The thin line between work and personal life is being crossed more often than not due to the development of smartphones. As we try to juggle between work and social life simultaneously, we may end up suffering from what is termed the ‘24/7 syndrome’, used to describe a tendency to always be on the job 24/7 even at home.
Changing perceptions and habits
Definitely there are many benefits associated with the creation of smartphones. For one, it has made communication so much easier due to the development of free instant messengers on smartphones. The difference between instant messengers and the usual text messaging system is that instant messengers are faster, more efficient and allows for combined conversation with more than one parties at once. Experts have predicted that number of texts are expected to drop by 20% in the next two years. [viii] Overall it has made it much easier for us to communicate with friends and always stay connected socially.
But of course, the invention presented to us is never bad on its own; it’s how we choose to utilise it. Smartphones have only increased our dependency on technology; our dependency and needs have shifted rather dramatically because of this innovation. Now, it is a necessity for many people to own a smartphone over a feature phone so that they can stay updated socially and professionally. People feel disconnected when they are not constantly checking Facebook notifications, digital news or their emails. It has changed our definition of doing things, making us seem even more busy than before. Our awareness of the easy availability of content through smartphones are creating the need for us to always be doing something. We know we can be doing something all the time, and this makes us feel like we therefore need to be doing something all the time. There are so many endless things to do with a smartphone on hand, that if this accessibility is cut off from us, we feel naked and vulnerable. With a smartphone, we literally hold the digital world in our hands. But with great power definitely comes great responsibility. For those who are unable to draw a clear limit to how much we should depend on these devices, it is all too easy for us to lose ourselves into the danger that technology shuns those around us. Let us not forget too, that the smartphone is still a piece of technology and therefore, cannot be 100% reliable. And if our dependence on smartphones are so great, our expectations will naturaly be higher and that makes us more liable to react more strongly when it fails on us.
The smartphone has effectively connected the world in complicated ways we may not have envisioned before its creation. We are communicating more easily through instant messengers, we can easily access social networking sites, and we are even communicating through global interactive games. Furthermore, smartphones are addictive. Smartphones have become so invasive that it is the one device most people unconsciously bring almost everywhere any time, becoming an indispensable tool in our daily activities, and it is the one piece of technology that is always ‘on’. The entertainment apps that they support can entertain us from hours on end. The ease of communication makes us addicted to staying connected and indulging in all sorts of entertainment that the internet provides, especially since we can access them in our own comfort. The world today is being connected by one common culture, that is the digital culture, and it is not wrong to credit the increasing growth of this phenomena to smartphones. The risk with this new emerging culture is that we become so engrossed with staying connected with the world that we fail to invest in ourselves. Addiction to this culture can make us give up other important things and distract us from our daily tasks.
The power of this innovation for most of us is that we don’t immediately realize its impacts on our lives, nor do we show much resistance. We adapt to it so quickly and comfortably that it seems almost natural, and at the end of the day, we find that we cannot bring ourselves to go back to the days before this innovation came about.
- Future Considerations (ie where we might go – how you foresee things going in future)
1. Flexible smartphone designs: Innovative dual screens have been experimented with by the Kyocera Echo on Sprint. Although there were issues, the idea can go far if executed better. It is possible that in the future, such dual-screen phones can be as thin as today’s smartphone when folded. Another innovation that could come up in recent years would be wearable phones, similar to the wristwatch phones we see in spy-action movies. The flexibility will be endless; phones may be able to be bent, folded and shaped according to preference. Wristwatch style phones can be converted to a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard and folded again to be slipped into the pocket. The closest example to this would be the Nokia Morph, a concept device that allows a malleable electronic device.
2. Augmented reality is another feature that’s being developed. This means that in the future, an app will be able to display landmarks just by pointing the phone at nearby surroundings and possibly locate little details such as the queue at a theme park attraction. The GPS will improve tremendously and will be able to offer more accurate results, taking into account other things such as traffic and weather.
3. Artificial intelligence: Just as there are artificial intelligence robots, smartphones may be capable of doing the same thing, collecting data and being able to predict consumers’ habits and preferences.
4. Better performance: More powerful smartphone are definitely going to be developed to enhance the network features. A system-on-a-chip nicknamed ‘Kal-El’ is said to be five times faster than the current processor used in many smartphones. Chips in the near future (2014) are predicted to be able to reach 75 times faster speed than the chips in smartphones today. The numbers are growing at an exponential rate and no doubt smartphones will be very powerful in the future.
5. Finally, smartphones will grow ‘green’ in the future. Everything from the technology inside the phone to the manufacturing processes are expected to be more environmentally friendly.
Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219159/Smartphones_of_the_future_How_they_will_look_what_they_will_do [ix]
While all the above possibilities are very exciting and promise increased efficiency, convenience and accessibility in the future, they may also come with limitations. Once more this can lead to an even greater dependence on smartphones. Eventually there needs to be a line drawn before technology becomes not just invasive in our lives, but our lives altogether.
In an eggshell, the smartphone is a genius invention despite its limation that no one can really deny. The inventors of the smartphone know exactly what consumers want even if the consumers themselves do not necessarily know it themselves, and focus on this. Consumers easily realize that the smartphone is something they want and need, and afterwards the smartphone had little problems in revolutionalising the world, effectively being its own form of advertisement and bolsetering its own sales. There is no doubt that the smartphone is a significant disruptive innovation that is becoming almost indispensable now.
It is worth considering the changing definitions of what is considered ‘smart’ over time. In the past, feature phones were the ones impressing the crowds, but now they are dismissed rather unfairly. Because of the constant changing nature of technology, the smartphone may even be abandoned completely in the future when something ‘smarter’ comes along. Despite so however, there is no denying the magnitude of the impact that the smartphone has left on the lives of the people today, and will possibly continue to do so for a long time to come.
References
[iii] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/technology/paying-to-text-is-becoming-passe-companies-fret.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
[v] http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9185038/Smartphones_other_mobile_devices_boost_social_networks
[vii] http://career-advice.monster.com/in-the-office/work-life-balance/smartphones-pluses-minuses-workers/article.aspx
Sunday, October 2, 2011
#7
Second session of biobusiness focused on Agribiology, Environmental Life Sciences and Industrial biotechnology (Past, present and future)!
Above is a cartoon animation that although seems light-hearted, deal with real issues concerning human consumerism. I read through some of the comments for this video and there were tons of people disagreeing with the situation. I agree with them that yes, the Earth doesn't care, nor do most animals that have no feelings. But what we're doing now inevitably affect future generations of humans, shouldn't that be important too?
Therefore the quote by Prof makes sense:
"When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability."
'Wanting less' will not sustain in the long run; 'always having' is what we need to aim for, as hard as it seems.
With reference to the landscape approach, biobusiness is still in the valley. We need to create all sorts of new ways in order to reach the summit or the clouds.
The presenters of today's presentation all presented on the issues of food security. None presented on industrial biology part, although I am not complaining. Michelle presented hers in a unique point of view by giving us insight into the cows we eat and making it more easy for us to relate to the content she presented.
Honestly though, I wouldn't really read or care about the labels on a food product. The fact is a lot of us won't, and that the only times we'd read a food label is to see how many calories or fats there are in them. Haha. Perhaps that's why today's lesson didn't particularly interest me, as I can't relate closely to the issues at hand.
Overall, I would rate this session 6/10. This topic admittedly does not interest me, but it was good to listen to prof and others' insights on these issues.
--
Above is a cartoon animation that although seems light-hearted, deal with real issues concerning human consumerism. I read through some of the comments for this video and there were tons of people disagreeing with the situation. I agree with them that yes, the Earth doesn't care, nor do most animals that have no feelings. But what we're doing now inevitably affect future generations of humans, shouldn't that be important too?
Therefore the quote by Prof makes sense:
"When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability."
'Wanting less' will not sustain in the long run; 'always having' is what we need to aim for, as hard as it seems.
With reference to the landscape approach, biobusiness is still in the valley. We need to create all sorts of new ways in order to reach the summit or the clouds.
The presenters of today's presentation all presented on the issues of food security. None presented on industrial biology part, although I am not complaining. Michelle presented hers in a unique point of view by giving us insight into the cows we eat and making it more easy for us to relate to the content she presented.
Honestly though, I wouldn't really read or care about the labels on a food product. The fact is a lot of us won't, and that the only times we'd read a food label is to see how many calories or fats there are in them. Haha. Perhaps that's why today's lesson didn't particularly interest me, as I can't relate closely to the issues at hand.
Overall, I would rate this session 6/10. This topic admittedly does not interest me, but it was good to listen to prof and others' insights on these issues.
--
You are what you eat.
That's not true, I don't remember eating a sexy beast.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
#6
Session 6 came around with the topic: BioBusiness Revolution: Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences (Past, Present and Future). Through reading a couple of my peers' blogs, it seems like this topic is not appealing to many, but on the contrary it is something that piqued my interest.
Maybe at first sight I thought that there's nothing particularly outstanding about the topic, but after going through some of the readings and the class, I found that I enjoyed dealing with this topic!
Perhaps it's due to the fact that there are so many possibilities that we have yet to capture for both healthcare and biomedical sciences.
For this lesson, Prof was late due to the rain, haha. In the meantime we were shown a two-part video on 'Emergence of and Innovations in Disease Management', which I had already seen actually, but no harm refreshing my memory!
I thought it was interesting how there was a little irony in how improved healthcare has helped people to live longer, yet it only means more chronic diseases (that come with age), and this in turn only leads to more problems of lacking resources in providing long-term healthcare and the issue of an aging population.
The solution in this is of course disease management. This involves careful analysis of patients at various forms of risk and allocating resources better. With new ways to monitor and motivate patients through surveillance through technology, the doctors have more time on their hands to deal with issues that cannot be done in any other ways than personally. Such an example would be equipments at home that are able to remind patients to take their medicine, record data and compute symptoms as reported by patients to identify what could possibly be wrong. Of course as with any forms of technology, this also comes with risks that it might fail, and in the context of healthcare, we can hardly afford to mess up.
Therefore when it comes to healthcare dealing with chronic diseases, the matter is likely to be open for debate.
However, we can devote these forms of healthcare towards more minor issues. This is related to what Yu Jun (Ethan) presented in this session, on mobile healthcare. For minor illnesses like flu or an injury, patients can easily contact their doctors through their phones and have the doctors advise them on what to do through a video call and interactive pictures/instructions. In this way healthcare can be much more efficient for all.
One problem that could arise from this would be the effects on the workforce in the healthcare industry. For example, in the article on disruptive change in healthcare, it mentioned that it radiologists are threatened when researches come up with a technology that could do the radiologists' jobs easily. Harsh as this may sound, I don't think this should be a factor holding us back from being more open to disruptive changes, because we wouldn't be able to advance if we weren't open to change. Technology has been snatching away jobs for a long time (back to days where people did the jobs that technology in factories now do), but it has also been creating jobs.
The presenters for this session had interesting topics. The topics on human immortality and genetic discrimination are the ones most interesting to me. It's rather amazing to think what possibilities technology and bio science can bring to us, and the controversy of whether it is good or just destructive.
In my opinion, I wouldn't want to live forever, nor would I want to find out how long I have to live or have people know how long I have to live and be discriminated based on that. Yet, in this class, there were plenty of others who want to do either or both. Once again it boils down to personal opinion. Regardless of whether you want to do it or not, you can't deny that technology such as those are indeed impressive.
Overall, I felt that this session was interesting and provided me with a lot of insights. I would rae this session a 9.5.
Maybe at first sight I thought that there's nothing particularly outstanding about the topic, but after going through some of the readings and the class, I found that I enjoyed dealing with this topic!
Perhaps it's due to the fact that there are so many possibilities that we have yet to capture for both healthcare and biomedical sciences.
For this lesson, Prof was late due to the rain, haha. In the meantime we were shown a two-part video on 'Emergence of and Innovations in Disease Management', which I had already seen actually, but no harm refreshing my memory!
I thought it was interesting how there was a little irony in how improved healthcare has helped people to live longer, yet it only means more chronic diseases (that come with age), and this in turn only leads to more problems of lacking resources in providing long-term healthcare and the issue of an aging population.
The solution in this is of course disease management. This involves careful analysis of patients at various forms of risk and allocating resources better. With new ways to monitor and motivate patients through surveillance through technology, the doctors have more time on their hands to deal with issues that cannot be done in any other ways than personally. Such an example would be equipments at home that are able to remind patients to take their medicine, record data and compute symptoms as reported by patients to identify what could possibly be wrong. Of course as with any forms of technology, this also comes with risks that it might fail, and in the context of healthcare, we can hardly afford to mess up.
Therefore when it comes to healthcare dealing with chronic diseases, the matter is likely to be open for debate.
However, we can devote these forms of healthcare towards more minor issues. This is related to what Yu Jun (Ethan) presented in this session, on mobile healthcare. For minor illnesses like flu or an injury, patients can easily contact their doctors through their phones and have the doctors advise them on what to do through a video call and interactive pictures/instructions. In this way healthcare can be much more efficient for all.
One problem that could arise from this would be the effects on the workforce in the healthcare industry. For example, in the article on disruptive change in healthcare, it mentioned that it radiologists are threatened when researches come up with a technology that could do the radiologists' jobs easily. Harsh as this may sound, I don't think this should be a factor holding us back from being more open to disruptive changes, because we wouldn't be able to advance if we weren't open to change. Technology has been snatching away jobs for a long time (back to days where people did the jobs that technology in factories now do), but it has also been creating jobs.
The presenters for this session had interesting topics. The topics on human immortality and genetic discrimination are the ones most interesting to me. It's rather amazing to think what possibilities technology and bio science can bring to us, and the controversy of whether it is good or just destructive.
In my opinion, I wouldn't want to live forever, nor would I want to find out how long I have to live or have people know how long I have to live and be discriminated based on that. Yet, in this class, there were plenty of others who want to do either or both. Once again it boils down to personal opinion. Regardless of whether you want to do it or not, you can't deny that technology such as those are indeed impressive.
Overall, I felt that this session was interesting and provided me with a lot of insights. I would rae this session a 9.5.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
#5
Today's (or rather, two days ago.. I started typing on Monday itself, thus the 'today') topic was on ICT and World Change - Past, Present, Future.
The lesson today was filled with several interesting videos!
The first one piqued my interest. It was a project on an interactive on-screen character called Milo. Here in the video we see Clare interacting with the boy as if he was a real human, reaching out when he threw something in her direction from his world. This video lets us think more carefully about the integration of technology into our society. Are characters like Milo 'real'? No doubt if I was in Clare's footsteps, I would react the same way as her. Because of the way Milo interacts, it felt instantly like he was a real human being with social skills and feelings.
Characters like Milo could possibly help in developing social skills in children who are left at home most of the time, as Prof mentioned. But the risk in that is definitely that the kid may end up being so dependent on Milo and treating him too much as a real friend, that he may not go out to make real ones.
With technology becoming such a necessary part of our lives, is it possible that in the future, our perception of humanity may change? Indeed a time may come when we would no longer have a clear line of what is human and what is machine. Sounds pretty extreme, but hey, all the technology we possess today weren't very believable in the past. Heck even the earth being round was deemed impossible!
The lesson began proper with introductory remarks on the types of ICT. One of the most prominent ones was the development of the web today. Through a video, Prof let us see how the internet has developed from Web 1.0 -> Web 2.0 -> Web 3.0. Right now we are in an era where the net is highly interactive and knows what you want, just like how the google search engine is personalized according to your usual searching habits.
The only way for us to move now is forward. In a fast developing world, there is barely any room for looking back, and the sole purpose of looking back should only be for picking up of lessons. Thus, the importance of knowledge management for a knowledge-based company. Okay I admit it, I've never heard of a knowledge officer before until this lesson, much less the importance of it ._. But we all learn something new each day, don't we?
So now the interesting question is, have we captured the potential?
I agree with Prof's answer.
No, no and no.
In most of the areas where ICT can change the world in a better way, we have not maximized its potential. Once again the question of poverty comes into mind. How is it that despite all the development in technology that there is still so much absolute and relative poverty in the world?
ICT can be applied for example, in education in third world countries.
We can even use it for democratic purposes, as Mr Obama has done in his campaign. If it was used as a platform for people's opinions, we could further minimize unhappiness or discontent.
Now another question is, is it a good thing if we capture the potential?
Not necessarily so, definitely. How would you like your whereabouts to be tracked all the time, 24/7? Yes, that will help in the case of criminals. But it does invade one's privacy.
Melissa then gave us a presentation on the future of television. Her presentation was engaging and very personal to us, which is why she could easily capture my attention. She presented on the possibilities of television in the future, for example, advertisements could be eliminated completely and instead replaced with a system whereby items in the movie or drama being screened can be clicked on to let the user find out more about it.
Thereby she raised the question on the relationship between television and tablet.
In my opinion, it is possible that in the future there will be a blurring of the line between the TV and the tablet. My individual paper will touch on how PDAs and handphones eventually merged to form one product that is smartphone.
Can it happen with TV and tablet?
Highly possible, given the interchangeable functions that the two already share at the current moment.
Shaak's presentation was also thought-provoking. He talks of the free economy and how it actually works. Everyday things are getting cheaper. We are getting free wi-fi access, free access to search engines and other types of interactive platforms. The reason being that only a small number of people need to pay and that would be enough to subsidize the rest of the millions that use that particular function.
Indeed it is interesting and nice to know that today's things are getting cheaper and more accessible.
Then why does poverty still exist?
Back to the poverty question? Technology should be used to solve poverty, yet is technology not what caused it? Haha. That would take too long to debate.
The rest of the presenters, Wei Wei and Aloysius, also did well in their presentations of IN 2015 and cloud computing respectively. Good job you all.
So far all the presenters are pretty good. Pressure D:
Anyways, time to rate this lesson. I felt like I learned plenty from this lesson so I would rate it 8.5/10.
The lesson today was filled with several interesting videos!
The first one piqued my interest. It was a project on an interactive on-screen character called Milo. Here in the video we see Clare interacting with the boy as if he was a real human, reaching out when he threw something in her direction from his world. This video lets us think more carefully about the integration of technology into our society. Are characters like Milo 'real'? No doubt if I was in Clare's footsteps, I would react the same way as her. Because of the way Milo interacts, it felt instantly like he was a real human being with social skills and feelings.
Characters like Milo could possibly help in developing social skills in children who are left at home most of the time, as Prof mentioned. But the risk in that is definitely that the kid may end up being so dependent on Milo and treating him too much as a real friend, that he may not go out to make real ones.
"The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human."
- John Naisbitt-
With technology becoming such a necessary part of our lives, is it possible that in the future, our perception of humanity may change? Indeed a time may come when we would no longer have a clear line of what is human and what is machine. Sounds pretty extreme, but hey, all the technology we possess today weren't very believable in the past. Heck even the earth being round was deemed impossible!
The lesson began proper with introductory remarks on the types of ICT. One of the most prominent ones was the development of the web today. Through a video, Prof let us see how the internet has developed from Web 1.0 -> Web 2.0 -> Web 3.0. Right now we are in an era where the net is highly interactive and knows what you want, just like how the google search engine is personalized according to your usual searching habits.
The only way for us to move now is forward. In a fast developing world, there is barely any room for looking back, and the sole purpose of looking back should only be for picking up of lessons. Thus, the importance of knowledge management for a knowledge-based company. Okay I admit it, I've never heard of a knowledge officer before until this lesson, much less the importance of it ._. But we all learn something new each day, don't we?
So now the interesting question is, have we captured the potential?
I agree with Prof's answer.
No, no and no.
In most of the areas where ICT can change the world in a better way, we have not maximized its potential. Once again the question of poverty comes into mind. How is it that despite all the development in technology that there is still so much absolute and relative poverty in the world?
ICT can be applied for example, in education in third world countries.
We can even use it for democratic purposes, as Mr Obama has done in his campaign. If it was used as a platform for people's opinions, we could further minimize unhappiness or discontent.
Now another question is, is it a good thing if we capture the potential?
Not necessarily so, definitely. How would you like your whereabouts to be tracked all the time, 24/7? Yes, that will help in the case of criminals. But it does invade one's privacy.
Melissa then gave us a presentation on the future of television. Her presentation was engaging and very personal to us, which is why she could easily capture my attention. She presented on the possibilities of television in the future, for example, advertisements could be eliminated completely and instead replaced with a system whereby items in the movie or drama being screened can be clicked on to let the user find out more about it.
Thereby she raised the question on the relationship between television and tablet.
In my opinion, it is possible that in the future there will be a blurring of the line between the TV and the tablet. My individual paper will touch on how PDAs and handphones eventually merged to form one product that is smartphone.
Can it happen with TV and tablet?
Highly possible, given the interchangeable functions that the two already share at the current moment.
Shaak's presentation was also thought-provoking. He talks of the free economy and how it actually works. Everyday things are getting cheaper. We are getting free wi-fi access, free access to search engines and other types of interactive platforms. The reason being that only a small number of people need to pay and that would be enough to subsidize the rest of the millions that use that particular function.
Indeed it is interesting and nice to know that today's things are getting cheaper and more accessible.
Then why does poverty still exist?
Back to the poverty question? Technology should be used to solve poverty, yet is technology not what caused it? Haha. That would take too long to debate.
The rest of the presenters, Wei Wei and Aloysius, also did well in their presentations of IN 2015 and cloud computing respectively. Good job you all.
So far all the presenters are pretty good. Pressure D:
Anyways, time to rate this lesson. I felt like I learned plenty from this lesson so I would rate it 8.5/10.
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