On The Technology Front

On The Technology Front

On The Technology Front

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 05:03 AM PDT

(Steve Jobs at the launching of the iPad)

by Alvin Yeo

On the technology front, it is always easy to know what is hot and what is not. You have to look rather carefully at the responses of both the consumers and also the product's advertising campaign.

But what I am going to write about is not a product review per say but the future of where this may lead to. We cannot deny the fact that such techno- gizmos will eventually shape and dictate how our lifestyle will be changed. Take for example the radio. It was touted the best thing that happened and the miracle of so many people contained in a little black box telling you stories. And when TV came around, it killed the radio. And they even wrote a song about how TV killed the radio man.

On the social front, we can also associate the air time of TV Shows to the population growth as well. Ever wonder why in some third world country where TV's were deemed a luxury or they are deemed items that "corrupt" your mind and you do not get to watch what you choose but some state approved programmes which basically entail a boring bloke reading out of a prompt card of which he will forget what he just read right after the "Good Night Comrades!!!"

Then came the computers where we actually IM our colleagues whom is sitting just behind us about the latest gossip or where is lunch today. Needless to say that those whom has found a job developing video games, were basically fuelled by the many online vampires whom are not out for blood to feed but constantly stays up late hypnotised by a video consol or a computer game.

On the social front again, you see more kids in a cyber café than you can find in the football pitch now a days. On a rainy day, you will never be able to find the wild kids whom will take to the fields sliding on the fields fantasising the way their idol does a fantastic tackle or the bicycle-kicks made famous by Pele. Instead, you will find them having more developed muscles on the thumbs and fingers executing deft precise clicks and swipes on a game consol to emulate that slide minus the rain, mud and body contact and offcourse the vulgarity which comes after the tackle, has never lost its shine and I have to say that the innovative mind has come up with some rather interesting and unique twist to the "old fashion" bloody cuss.

Then comes a new toy in the market recently and it is barely larger than a B5 dairy weighing in the region of about 6lbs. The iPad. A fantastic gizmo which I felt it was like Steve Jobs saw the iPhone market responding to it like moths to a flame! Seeing the success and asking how do we double the fun and quadruple the profits? Well, maybe a blurry staff whom is sleep deprived and mentally drained just blurted out, "If u think its just that @#$%@ easy, why dun u double our F&%#$@@ work and Quadruple the size of the B##@!&#% iPhone… mumble mumble…" And, Mr Job did his job yet again by taking the suggestion of a fellow employee, double the work load and made the iPhone bigger.

It had some very cautious reception but the ad campaigns were very well thought out and before they hit the market, people were already pre booking them. Opportunist whom has seen this potential, also jumped into the band wagon and the competitors introduced the Android powered tablets. I am not going to comment too much on the functionality and I still do believe that it is generically dependent on the user preference and there is no clear winner in any case. Its just like a Beemer fan will say how it drives well and handles great on the road and another whom may be an Audi driver will claim the A6 does it better…. The debate never stops but there are other factors where users will naturally be drawn to the sleek groovy looks while the accessories determines how big a freak you really is. A car is after all just a car… (I know many will disagree with me but I am using this as an anology, maybe not such a good one but I think you get my drift… because regardless what analogy I use, there will still be two big faction divided by preference, and that is my point).

So, having some history to refer to and faced with this new toy, how will our future turn out? Will be all be talking like NCIS agents in future and tapping on to a digital pad to cal up information where ever there is a 3G connection (which is basically a very large area). Will doctors now be faced with new medical terms to deal with like instead of a tennis elbow, we now call it an iPad elbow? Or what will we call the skin disorder of not having enough Vitamin D (due to the lack of sunlight)?

We have seen more cases of CTS and other Repetitive Strain Injuries more than actual sporting injuries. I suppose the Insurance Agencies will come up with some form of caveats where payout will be determined by the proper Ergonomic and Work Space Management plans in place and properly implemented as well.

I take the stand of embracing technology with a more liberal and adaptive approach. While we take in the technology, let's also not forget the humanity of social engagement and also nurture the emotions we humans are designed and created naturally to have and we need to develop this. Otherwise we will end up being "surrogates" to technology and the line of who is master will be blurred.

I like some of the games on the iPad developed where it can support more than one person to play on it at one time and this actually helps to foster interaction and sharing. This is the kind of development we should see more of and encourage the development of young minds to see the future as we like it to be and be the wise man our children will be telling their children in future. We keep saying our children will be the future, what then are we doing to ensure they are properly guided to do this and what are we doing to help them achieve to their best potential? It is time we step out of our shadow and start to work on our humanity first before we pass on our flaws to our children. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)