My favorite technologies of the past decade
The last decade witnessed quick and drastic revolutions in various fields of technology. (Children growing up in that period would not appreciate a large number of sci-fi movies :-). ) Google conquered the web world while facebook defined e-society. Electronics have been applied extensively to improve every aspect of life; watch out for electronics in toilet paper. Communication has become so fast and cheap (read free) that collaboration with my professor was not affected when he left to Belgium on a sabbatical. Thanks to amazon.com, our shopping strategies have changed. Overall, our lifestyles have changed; food and language are probably the only common aspects that I share with my grand parents, who have chosen to abstain from this never ending revolution.
Among the developments (too humble a word; don't have a superlative term at the tip of my finger now) that have taken place in the last ten years, I have picked my three favorite ones
Smart-phone
I own a blackberry which acts like my personal assistant by maintaining my calendar, tasks, delivering my mails, giving me road directions, restaurant suggestions, playing my music, taking notes, on and on and on. The iPhone and Evo 4G are much smarter with great cameras, enabling check deposit, document scanning, face time video calling (only on iPhone) and more useful features.
Smart-phones, with the criticism of providing continuous distractions, provide opportunity to immensely increase our productivity. Currently, it adds another dimension to our smartness. At the rate of growth of mobile phone industry (hardware, software and applications), the lack of proficiency with this device would become a serious deficiency.
Skype
People may argue that AT&T or Verizon is the largest phone service provider. If you are from India, you might vouch for BSNL to be the company with highest number of subscribers. However, Skype has to be the world's largest telephony service provider with more than half a billion registered users.
Skype uses the technology called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The voice (and video) is converted into data packets and sent to the destination over Internet. With a decently fast Internet connection, I am able to hold video conferences with parents in India, without paying anything. Recent versions of Skype allow the users to share desktop screens. This has enabled me to hold technical discussions with my professor who is on a sabbatical in Belgium. This technology has managed to make collaborations simple, even with people half way across the globe. I hope to be able to work from India for 6 months a year :-).
MP3
60min/90min cassette tapes used to be the standard audio storage medium back in my school days. Listening to music while traveling was a luxury. Yes, there were Walkmans but the battery life was not too good. And then the life of these audio tapes were not long either.
MP3 compression algorithm was perfected in late 80s and early 90s. However, MP3 players had to wait for the digital signal processors and memory technology to catch up. NAND flash memory was several hundred dollars for a megabyte in those days. A MP3 player with 30 min playback time (paltry by cassette standards) would cost few thousand dollars.
By late 90s, computers got faster and could remember more. Optical discs became common and a lot of audio was carried around on CDs - the first digital audio revolution. NAND flash memory got cheaper by the day (it costs less than a dollar for every GB), non-volatile memory technology was mastered. Apple launched its first iPod in 2001 - the revolution in digital audio. As Willie D. Jones puts it, time line can be split into B.C (before compression) and A.D (Apple Domination). Now, I carry all my favorite music in a small device that goes with my key chain.
There were probably other technologies which made more significant influences to this world, but as I told you before, these are my favorite. Please let me know about your favorite ones in comments.
What is in store next?
The coming decade can only witness an accelerated growth. The cool gadgets and technologies that I look forward to are
Among the developments (too humble a word; don't have a superlative term at the tip of my finger now) that have taken place in the last ten years, I have picked my three favorite ones
Smart-phone
I own a blackberry which acts like my personal assistant by maintaining my calendar, tasks, delivering my mails, giving me road directions, restaurant suggestions, playing my music, taking notes, on and on and on. The iPhone and Evo 4G are much smarter with great cameras, enabling check deposit, document scanning, face time video calling (only on iPhone) and more useful features.
Smart-phones, with the criticism of providing continuous distractions, provide opportunity to immensely increase our productivity. Currently, it adds another dimension to our smartness. At the rate of growth of mobile phone industry (hardware, software and applications), the lack of proficiency with this device would become a serious deficiency.
Skype
People may argue that AT&T or Verizon is the largest phone service provider. If you are from India, you might vouch for BSNL to be the company with highest number of subscribers. However, Skype has to be the world's largest telephony service provider with more than half a billion registered users.
Skype uses the technology called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The voice (and video) is converted into data packets and sent to the destination over Internet. With a decently fast Internet connection, I am able to hold video conferences with parents in India, without paying anything. Recent versions of Skype allow the users to share desktop screens. This has enabled me to hold technical discussions with my professor who is on a sabbatical in Belgium. This technology has managed to make collaborations simple, even with people half way across the globe. I hope to be able to work from India for 6 months a year :-).
MP3
60min/90min cassette tapes used to be the standard audio storage medium back in my school days. Listening to music while traveling was a luxury. Yes, there were Walkmans but the battery life was not too good. And then the life of these audio tapes were not long either.
MP3 compression algorithm was perfected in late 80s and early 90s. However, MP3 players had to wait for the digital signal processors and memory technology to catch up. NAND flash memory was several hundred dollars for a megabyte in those days. A MP3 player with 30 min playback time (paltry by cassette standards) would cost few thousand dollars.
By late 90s, computers got faster and could remember more. Optical discs became common and a lot of audio was carried around on CDs - the first digital audio revolution. NAND flash memory got cheaper by the day (it costs less than a dollar for every GB), non-volatile memory technology was mastered. Apple launched its first iPod in 2001 - the revolution in digital audio. As Willie D. Jones puts it, time line can be split into B.C (before compression) and A.D (Apple Domination). Now, I carry all my favorite music in a small device that goes with my key chain.
There were probably other technologies which made more significant influences to this world, but as I told you before, these are my favorite. Please let me know about your favorite ones in comments.
What is in store next?
The coming decade can only witness an accelerated growth. The cool gadgets and technologies that I look forward to are
- A super intelligent successor to a smart-phone with an intuitive voice based interface and 3D screens.
- Techniques to generate, scavenge and recycle energy from the surroundings in a clean way.
- Software defined radios. The success of my PhD work will give the much needed impetus to this dream of many a RF engineer ;-).
Hi TJ,
ReplyDeleteInteresting choices. One technology that comes to my mind immediately is LCD. For future technologies - probably superconducting electrical lines, efficient solar or fuel cells. Found this interesting article recently: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/a-light-in-india/?src=dayp
Lots of growth can happen in such technologies also.
Good picks...... I love my iPad rights now. Can't wait for all of the 3d and cloud technologies!
ReplyDeleteI haven't used an iPad yet but I hope that it can replace my laptop soon. A lot of friends have good things to say about it.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you on cloud technologies. It was my third point for the future technologies, but I wanted to cheer up myself by mentioning my research there. ;-)
@Sumit You need to update me about the fuel cells. I am skeptical about superconducting electrical lines and its impact on human civilization.