My research question is that “In the last fifty years, how has technology adapted over that time period and how has that changed the world that we live in”. The reason why I’m interested in this question is because technology is a very complex topic and it plays a role in the lives of many people across the world. One simple example of how technology has an effect on the lives of people is smartphones, almost every single person has one in their possession and they all use it for their own reasons. Those reasons could be work or school related responsibilities, or just to do simple tasks such as sending messages to others, setting an alarm to wake up early the following day, checking the weather or time, writing down a list of chores that need to be completed, etc. Basically we rely on the support from our smartphones to support us throughout the days, now if we remove smartphones from our lives then things would become much more complicated and difficult to handle. Personally I use my phone to keep track of the time, list down important details and upcoming dates, getting in touch with family members and friends, and staying in contact with my school to be alert of any updates and to be on top of my studies. In my research, I expect to find different innovations to machinery and improvements done in communication, music, entertainment, education, health, transportation, etc. I expect to find this in my research because these are topics that have an effect on my life and it’s a big world out there so, I’m sure that others can relate to that. If I find information that goes completely against to what I had expected to find then, I will continue to look for information that supports my topic claim. However if I am unable to find anything that supports my topic then, I will adjust to it and incorporate it in my writing. The genres that I believe would give me good information are published sources, textbook articles, science articles, business articles, dialogues from conversations regarding technology, charts or diagrams with explanations and analysis, time lines, informational videos, web sites, and newspapers. These are good potential sources because each of these sources provide good concrete information that I could use and for an example an science article would go well with technology since science is applied to further innovate technology.
“Past, Present and Future: The Evolution of Technology.” Edited by Donny Lamey2, DiscoverTec, 2018, www.discovertec.com/blog/evolution-of-technology.
Technology has progressed significantly over the many years, it has become a beneficial tool that many people depend on for different responsibilities and tasks. The title of the blog is “The Evolution of Technology: Past, Present, and Future”, published on January 5, 2018 by Donny Lamey. The main idea of the blog is that technology is constantly innovating and changing, countless advancements have been created and it has affected the lives of many individuals in many ways. First off, the common practice of storing and sharing information has become much easier as new ways have been introduced to make tasks like these simple to perform. Before in the past, people relied on discs or CD-ROM to store and share information. From there it changed into USB sticks and flash drives, but now everything innovated into iCloud. iCloud is a cloud storage that was created by Apple Inc and launched on October 12, 2011. It has helped with improved organization and better security of information, more and more people opt for this instead and many businesses and companies do so as well. It has become the most efficient way to store large files safely and most efficient to transfer data and information. A Wi-Fi connection is required to perform any tasks that are involved with iCloud, however nowadays Wi-Fi is supplied almost everywhere in places as simple as coffee shops, library’s, food places, etc. But if that is still isn’t enough and you can’t find a Wi-Fi signal close by then, most individuals are still able to have access to the internet by using their cellular data connections or a personal hotpot if they have. The internet is available almost everywhere and our daily lives are always affected by it. Communications has definitely improved as well, unlike in the past where people wrote hand written letters to each other and having to wait by the phone for the phone call. Now the connection to communicate is instant and it consumes very little time, there are Bluetooth connections, many different forms of messaging apps, or just a simple text message by number. The development of these messaging apps has led to the the birth of social media and many platforms along with it such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Periscope, etc. For more serious occasions such work and school related responsibilities, virtual speaking has been developed for that. Videos are now higher quality and increased streaming potential allows people to know engage in virtual conferences in services such as Skype, Google Handouts, Zoom, Facetime, etc. Streaming also extends to entertainment, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and more video services have been created to further expand your quality of home entertainment. The author introduces many key points such as the overall progress of technology, iCloud being the most advance service to store and share information, Wi-Fi being supplied to the public in many places of business, the evolution of communication, the introduction of social media, new virtual platforms, and new age of video streaming. All of this together supports the main idea conveyed by the author which is, ” technology is a frontier on its own, continuing to evolve, grow, and reshape our world. As we continue to explore and expand technology, the more life will change, creating new habits and forming new ways of working together”. The essence of the author’s argument is that technology is always gonna be improving and there’s no stopping that, the new modern never stays the same and lives are always changing. Furthermore I agree with the message of the author, presently I own a smart tv and it’s nice to have a high quality tv to watch shows and movies in my free time. But when I was a kid I remember having one of those large box shaped tv’s and I would always watch a little before I would get ready to go to school, this was back in my elementary school years. However the new generation are going to grow up in a world filled with technological advances and it’ll continue from there, who knows how the world will look like in the next year. I would ask the author how was her/his experience with technology growing up and what influenced him/her into writing about this topic. This document has told me that my research question holds meaning and that meaning is shared with others since, there are online sources talking about the same exact thing. Based on what I’ve read and how the author expressed his/her details in the writing, that adds even more meaning to the main point and supplies the audience with clear information.
“10 Landmark Moments in Entertainment Technology.” Edited by Waugh, The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 13 Nov. 2019, www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung-8k-tv/great-tech-innovations-past-50-years/.
Past and Present | Technology Then and Now, Astrolabe, 16 Dec. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DENG7Q7VRgo.
Baum, Reuben Fischer. “What ‘Tech World’ Did You Grow up in?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/entertainment/tech-generations/.
From then to now, the United States has made huge economic growth due to the enormous changes in technology. The name of the article is “What ‘Tech World’ Did You Grow Up In?” by Reuben-Fischer-Baum and it speaks a lot technological growth. The main objective of the article is to inform the public of these technological changes and that every generation grows up in a different world. Baum states, “in 2009, 89% of U.S. home entertainment spending was DVDs, and the top movie in theaters was Avatar”. Baum’s point is before DVDS was the central platform for video entertainment and it was also a convenient way to watch movies at home. Additionally there was also access to the internet and some households in the U.S. had access. The culture of music expanded as well, Baum states, “in 2007, 63% of U.S. music sales ( by volume ) were digital, and the top selling album was Josh Groban-Noei”. Music saved on digital platforms became the optimal way to listen to music. and the era of CDs and tapes came to an end. A major innovation in technology that gains tremendous desirability is cell phones, by 2015 more than 60% of Americans had smart phones. In 1973, the first mobile phone was invented and the first call was made with it. But later in the article Baum himself writes, “a decade a half later, Nokia and other manufacturers had developed much cheaper models. In particular, the nearly indestructible Nokia 3310-affectionately known as the “brick”`-has a special place in U.S. mobile history as the first cell phone for many younger Americans”. Basically Baum is saying that cell phones is the invention that is most popular within the communities and a lot of businesses compete with one another to create the best mobile phone. I agree with the Reuben Fischer-Baum and the main point he is trying to say, since many years a lot has happened. If I could ask Reuben Fischer-Baum a question I would say, “what kind of tech world did you grow up in as a kid?”. This document has shown me that technology is all about trial and error and that’s how we improve over years, it’s all about consistency. Baum selected an article with informational graphs as his genre, for me that made understanding the content easier and it added more meaning and credibility to his document.
Through my research I discovered many different sources of information on technology and it’s time period of technological growth. Furthermore I discovered four disparate genre sources that discuss about this matter, the first source is a blog, the second source is an informational timeline, the third source is an informational video and the last source is an article included with line graphs. All these sources share the same central idea that technology has evolved immensely over the past years and the innovations created has reshaped the way we live our lives. Early inventions such as tapes, DVDs, CDs, black and white televisions, VHS, MP3 players, computers and flip phones initiated the technological process. This time period was between the 1970s to 2000s, I remember when I was a little boy and I had some of these devices in my household. In my house I had a collection of movies in DVDs and some VHS tapes, I remember my most favorite movie as a kid was “Spiderman”. In my room I had a old generation television that was shaped as a cube, every morning I would wake up early to watch “Cartoon network” and I did that still on the days that I had school. Anyway those devices and memories pertain to the past and now we live in the present and times have changed since then. Currently people no longer use DVDs to watch movies, instead movies and tv shows are able to be watched on different digital platforms such Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, etc. Also these digital platforms are viewed in high resolution QLED 8K TVs, this is the most enhanced version of the first television that was built back in 1973. Laptops and computers have improved with their performance and its the optimal tool to use for collecting information from the internet and connecting with others virtually. The device that gets the most attraction from the public is smart phones, smart phones became the most convenient device to carry around and modern age introduced hundreds of apps that you can download on your smartphone to help you with all kinds of needs. With a smart phone you can communicate with others, look up anything for any needs you may have, check the time or weather, write down important information for memorization and do so much more. I further understand that past eras are distinct from each other because of the different advancements created at different times throughout history, so basically future generations from now will grow up in different worlds. This is important to understand because technology is meant to consistently innovate our lives so, therefore we should pay more attention to the evolution of technology since we rely on it so much. Individuals who want to pursue a career in technology and who are generously interested in the history of technology should know about this because it would expand their curiosity on technology and it could lead to future ideas.
Recent Comments