Today's TWC class was based on the topic of Emerging and Future Technologies. I was quite excited to attend this class, as I was aware I was going to learn about a lot of new things which would be very interesting. Class started of with Prof asking us a simple question. Were we "Why" people or "Why not" people. This simply meant if you looked at life and asked why for all the change and innovations that took place around you, being a pessimist and resistant always. Or were you the type of person who looked at change as "why not"? Always being ready to give new innovations a chance and hoping for the best outcomes. Prof was more interested in knowing if this class had help change our notions at all. I thought about it and then told Prof that I felt before this TWC class, I was just indifferent to everything around me. But now I strongly think "why not"? As crazy and ridiculous an idea may sound, I will always be willing to give it a chance, as that is how a new technology begins and develops. I felt a bit embarrassed that I was ignorant to my surroundings. However, I am thankful to the help I received from this class in changing my perception of technology and that I have gone from being an ostrich to an eagle :)
Again the introductory remarks included us discussing some drivers for this type of development in future technology. Some of the reasons included wide-scale urbanization which has led to an increase in education among people consequentially leading to increase in demand for resources, easy technology, increased supply as a new demand for these products have been created. There seems to exist two types of products. One which is almost a necessity product, whose demand increases with the increase in the population, such as water, food, information, data, etc.; and the other type of product are those whose supply causes an increase in demand. For example, the apple iPhone, iPod, Tablets, etc. These are growing technologies, which are created with the need to keep up with the fast changing world.
If you think about it, around 20 years ago, we were just starting to rely on communication to keep in touch with our loved ones within a small area. However, as the years have passed, we saw an increasing need to have technologies which helps us connect across cities and countries. Everybody needs a smartphone to connect, to find places through GPRS, to store memories in the form of pictures. All these are needs that humans developed, and didn't necessarily have. It is interesting to observe how much more the needs are going to increase in the future. The needs are going to change. New products will be needed, hence placing a huge importance on future technologies.
Another important point that we studied in relation to the above point was augmented reality. This basically involves adding a layer of information between what one see's and the object itself. So say you walk past a restaurant, with the help of your phone, you are able to gain complete access to all the info about that restaurant. This augmented reality and smartphone technology is making the world a smaller place.
Some interesting areas we looked at were- Nanotechnology, BioTechnologies, Robotics, computer based simulation technologies, etc. Through the presentations we understood some interesting technologies which are coming up. I think the nearest upcoming big technology is increasing commuting patterns. So new flight technology like jet packs and flying cars are gaining importance as people are looking for alternative ways of transporting which are easier and more effective. Again can you imagine? Our grandparents generation used their feet as the most trustworthy source of transport. Then slowly we moved to vehicles in our parents generation, and now we are currently trying to develop wings to fly.
What a funny world we do live in? Where we stop and think back and can't remember yesterday because today is so different. I do think that future technologies are going to play a huge role in our lives and that vital importance must be given to the R and D that is going into these growing technologies.
I did enjoy this class of TWC and learned quite a bit about emerging technologies, but more importantly on why they must be managed well and established correctly without causing any environmental damages.
Ratings: 8.5/10
Next week is my presentation. *butterflies* Hope it goes well :)
Waiting for the viral to hit again :)
Again the introductory remarks included us discussing some drivers for this type of development in future technology. Some of the reasons included wide-scale urbanization which has led to an increase in education among people consequentially leading to increase in demand for resources, easy technology, increased supply as a new demand for these products have been created. There seems to exist two types of products. One which is almost a necessity product, whose demand increases with the increase in the population, such as water, food, information, data, etc.; and the other type of product are those whose supply causes an increase in demand. For example, the apple iPhone, iPod, Tablets, etc. These are growing technologies, which are created with the need to keep up with the fast changing world.
If you think about it, around 20 years ago, we were just starting to rely on communication to keep in touch with our loved ones within a small area. However, as the years have passed, we saw an increasing need to have technologies which helps us connect across cities and countries. Everybody needs a smartphone to connect, to find places through GPRS, to store memories in the form of pictures. All these are needs that humans developed, and didn't necessarily have. It is interesting to observe how much more the needs are going to increase in the future. The needs are going to change. New products will be needed, hence placing a huge importance on future technologies.
Another important point that we studied in relation to the above point was augmented reality. This basically involves adding a layer of information between what one see's and the object itself. So say you walk past a restaurant, with the help of your phone, you are able to gain complete access to all the info about that restaurant. This augmented reality and smartphone technology is making the world a smaller place.
Some interesting areas we looked at were- Nanotechnology, BioTechnologies, Robotics, computer based simulation technologies, etc. Through the presentations we understood some interesting technologies which are coming up. I think the nearest upcoming big technology is increasing commuting patterns. So new flight technology like jet packs and flying cars are gaining importance as people are looking for alternative ways of transporting which are easier and more effective. Again can you imagine? Our grandparents generation used their feet as the most trustworthy source of transport. Then slowly we moved to vehicles in our parents generation, and now we are currently trying to develop wings to fly.
I did enjoy this class of TWC and learned quite a bit about emerging technologies, but more importantly on why they must be managed well and established correctly without causing any environmental damages.
Ratings: 8.5/10
Next week is my presentation. *butterflies* Hope it goes well :)
Waiting for the viral to hit again :)
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