How Technology Is Advancing Very Fast - Essay Example

? How Technology is Advancing Very Fast Mankind has always strived for achieving excellence and improvement in the life style. The journey of struggle and advancement can be traced back to millions of years in history. Every age is characterized by some invention and discovery. All these have one aim behind them and that is to make the environment more healthy and living better. In today’s world we see our entire ambiance surrounded by digital equipment ranging from computers to vehicles to home appliances to gadgets. Last century can be specifically termed as the revolutionary era in terms of modern scientific advances. Ranging from the home appliance to commercial usage transportation to gadgets, all inventions can be routed back to 20th century .The first few decades of previous century saw rapid growth when motor cars and aero planes were introduced on commercial scale(Anderson, pg88) . In modern times the foundation of modern technological can be traced back to mid 20th century. Von Neumann and Steve Jobs are two the names that must be mentioned whenever there is a debate on the advancements in modern time (Slater, pg 310) .The former is responsible for the computer architecture that is predominantly being used all over the world, while the latter is the man responsible for the current state of the art technology all around us. Technological advancements are not limited to only one field and all departments of life have undergone massive technological transitions over age. A characteristic attribute of technology is its fast paced changing trend. Any invention that is a buzz word in present becomes obsolete in future days. Many examples can be traced back from history where things and inventions have become obsolete in matter of few years. A characteristic of technology and its advancement is the fact that things change very rapidly and things in trend today become relics in very short time. All the electronic equipment that once appeared novel few years back is out of trend and considered obsolete. Prime example can be the computer world where large sized monitors were in trend few years back, however they are rapidly replaced by L.C.Ds and L.E.Ds. In case of processors, Pentium family was in demand and dominance less than five years ago; this all has been replaced by multi core processors and brands. Electronics in general are ubiquitously found all around; examples can be traced from other walks of life as well. Televisions, Air conditioners, lifts in building, other home appliances have literally revolutionized the world of electronics. The old traditional railway system is being replaced by bullet trains. As the name implies they travel at a real fast speed. This like many others is one of the gifts of technology and a modern shape of technology. Bullet trains are fully functional in many parts of the world especially Europe (Olson, et al.,pg71, 2009). In the field of communications massive developments have taken place. Starting from ancient modes of communication to wired mode of transmission that dominated the mid 20th century to the mobile phone communications .The last decade of 20th century saw an upsurge in the field of wireless technologies. It all started with 1st generation of mobile phone standards, soon they were revamped into 2nd generation mobile standards, and the current state of the art technological generation is 3G and 4G that has given a new look to the world of communications (Korhonen). This can be described as the hardcore interface transition of technology. In the field of gadgets and mobile phone devices, touch phones are the order of the day. Keypad enabled phones and hard keyed phones are thing of past. Sensor based softwares are fully functional in mobile phones. The operating systems that run underneath the surface of all we see in our mobile phones have also emerged through different phases. The most user friendly interfaces are in trend and every second operating system is open sourced that enables maximum interaction of customers with the platform developers. Wireless connectivity comes in form of internet connection at nearly every public place be it cafe, airport, colleges and university. Different standards are available ranging from long range connectivity to short range connectivity that have enabled on the go connections all over. In the field of processors and computers, specific purpose processors have made it to almost all sectors of life. Special purpose processors find their applications in home appliances, stereos in the vehicles and the vehicles themselves. Even the general purpose computer processors have taken a total new shape. With technologies like i3, i5, and i7 in market, the Pentium family and Dual core processors are surely a thing of past (Alpern, Alpern and Muller,pg 7). The hardware side of computers has also undergone advancements. Desktops are being replaced by laptops. Computer itself has undergone large number of changes and advancements but it has contributed in more ways than any other device. It has brought about pace in life, and has speeded up the processes at the same time become integral part of many organizations and walks of life where human beings are directly associated. The technological advancement speed is so fast that now the laptops are being feared to be replaced by tablets and under 10 inch sized laptops. Tablets in form of I-mate and various other similar products are quite common in the market. A fire robot is a prime example of modern technological advancements. Under unforeseen situations and emergencies it is largely being used to safe life and property. In the category of automobiles, technological trends have been equally implemented and today’s cars are many times better and reliable than cars of the past. Cars engines are manufactured according to the latest technologies available. Electronic fuel injections, air bags, anti lock brake systems , designed based on maximized safety are few of the things that were only limited to books and fantasies. The field of engineering is also contributing to the progress of technology. Various disciplines of engineering have made life easy and many things that we see around us are contribution of engineers and engineering tools. Besides electronic and computer engineering discipline, even in the field of civil engineering , the softwares that exist in modern times have made buildings constructions ,bridges establishment, roads design ever so possible and ever so easy. The use of softwares has become intensive and softwares find their applications in various disciplines and projects. In the field of industry, what was in trend 50 years ago is totally revamped and everything is controlled by computers. Automation is in full action .It has made life easy for the workers and customers. Things are being made on hourly basis which would otherwise take days in past. Automation is enabled and achieved through robotics .Many full scale machines are in place that has reduced the work of labor. It has enabled moving to those parts of the factory which were either risky or inaccessible. The gifts of technology have been in form of compatibility and portability. All the gadgets around in modern times are pocket sized. Large sized hard disks and other secondary storage devices are being replaced by small and portable devices like flash drives and portable hard drives. These too are bound to become to prey of technological advances and will ultimately be replaced by something more sleek and fast Large sized monitors are replaced by state of the art L.C.Ds and L.E.Ds that are more power efficient, bright, and user customized. Intel Co-founder Gordon Moore commenting on the progress in the field of science and technology stated that the number of transistors on each chip doubles every 18 months (Granberg, pg 4). Going by the history of technology, it cannot be denied that anything that stands as totally novel and unique will be a faded entity in years to come. Technology has a characteristic trait of rapidly changing face. All that we see in our surroundings and which is being termed as the state of the art material will be part of the past in less than a decade. Technological history can be traced back for exploration of products that have become obsolete with time. Each category can be addressed separately and possible advances can be narrated. For example in the case of communication, where WI-FIs are ruling the party, they could be replaced by more secure, faster and accessible modes of communication in coming days. With transfer rates mostly in Mbps, the future is bound to introduce Giga Hertz speed concept on individual scale. Forensic science and D.N.A: Technological advances have taken place equally in the field of forensic science. A distributive feature of this field is the D.N.A testing and tracing. Until 1980s it was not implementable. D.N.A tracing has become very common and has enabled and progressed the process of detective business by many folds. Before the invention of D.N.A as a tool for investigation, the investigation processes seemed limited and forensic teams had to rely on the hard core evidence only. It enables reaching to the criminals and real issues, all this courtesy technology. However this too, like every other component of technology is bound to be replaced by something that will be more effective and advanced. Flying cars and hologram enabled televisions are pinned as the future technologies with Hologram televisions expected to hit the market soon. Cloning: Cloning is in its infancy around the world yet this is one more gift of technology. It is being performed on trial basis and has limited applicability yet it is one more real gem in offing in the future days (Haran). In case of computers, nano technology based processors are probable rulers in coming days (Ratner and Ratner). Processors based on nano technology architecture are already in trend and gaming consoles are the nearest and smallest with 16 to 8 nm of the surface area. Technology in the field of weapons and machinery is bound to play its role. Future machinery and arms weapons would possibly have further increased range and accuracy. The irony with technological advances is the fact that every innovation is the natural prey to tomorrow and is destined to become obsolete. Every year many products get obsolete and rapidly get replaced by the new products. Future study groups work in this regard for the work in the field of the upcoming technologies. Technological arena is mostly dominated by the concept of innovation and creativity. Technology has made our life easy and has been a great servant to mankind in last two centuries. Going by the progress in the field of science and technology and the benefits provided by machine and robotics, artificial intelligence and robots can be termed as two forces that will have greater role and control over our lives in coming days. Bibliography: 1-Alpern, N, Joey Alpern and Randy Muller. IT Career JumpStart: An Introduction to PC Hardware, Software, and Networking. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 2-Anderson, John David. The Airplane, a History of Its Technology. Reston: AIAA, 2002. 3-Granberg. Handbook of Digital Techniques for High-Speed Design. Pearson Education, 2007. 4-Haran, Joan. Human Cloning in the Media: From Science Fiction to Science Practice. Routledge, 2008. 5-Korhonen, Juha. Introduction to 3G Mobile Communications. Artech House, 2003. 6-Olson, D. et al.,. Europe For Dummies.:John Wiley & Sons, 2009. 7-Ratner, Mark A. and Daniel Ratner. Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea. Prentice Hall Professional, 2003. 8-Slater, Robert. Portraits in Silicon. MIT Press, 1989. Read More