The March of Technology

[deanb]

Technology is moving forward at ever faster paces and becoming more and more integrated with our daily lives.

The Sci-Fi stories of Blade Runner, Matrix, Minority Report becoming almost documentaries before their time.

 

What are your thoughts on the rapid pace of technology? Too fast? Do you think it will have massive consequences or be the answer to our dreams?

 

Also worth a read up is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

 

 

And I leave you with the video that inspired me to make this topic.

 

 

(oh n as n when I come across stuff I'll dump related things in here)

[Akuam4n]

It's really weird to think that when I am 50 or 60, a cd player or and cds will be what record players and records are today. I hate the cloud, and that everything seems to moving that way.

 

That aside, I do like the portability that we are introducing, and the integration. I like being able to seamlessly connect my phone to my pc, and then have my pc steam to my console and my tv (I really hate "smart" tvs though. I do not want to watch shitty, grainy youtube videos on my nice hd flatscreen tv; I don't even want to watch hd youtube videos on it).

 

In a way too, I think Steve Jobs spurred technology forward. He created the iPod, and iTunes. Then the iPhone, and now the iPad. Smartphones, digital distribution giants, and tablets. He is taking another leave of absence for this health this year, and I am curious who is going to really shape the tech world if he dies (or, soon rather; he will obviously die). Not meaning to turn this into a hate fest about jobs either, I think most people even if they hate him can see what he has done to the tech world.

 

I think, that eventually the growth will become too fast. The consumers won't be able to keep up, and we will want to revert; that's far off though, sadly. I miss when spelling properly was a good thing. I now see tons of campaigns using numbers in stead of letters, and such, and kids can't read / spell worth a shit now. We are becoming slaves to our electronic devices. I know people who can't read an analog clock; truly sad.

[TheMightyEthan]

It's really weird to think that when I am 50 or 60, a cd player or and cds will be what record players and records are today. I hate the cloud, and that everything seems to moving that way.

Out of curiosity, what do you have against the cloud?

 

I think, that eventually the growth will become too fast. The consumers won't be able to keep up, and we will want to revert; that's far off though, sadly.

I don't think this will ever happen. Sure, it might become too fast for oldtimers like us, but not for the people who've grown up with it (even more than we have, I mean). My fiancee is studying psychology, and apparently studies have found that people who are exposed to constant technological change while they're growing up have no problem continuing to deal with change as adults. It's only people who grew up without the constant change that have a problem.

 

I miss when spelling properly was a good thing. I now see tons of campaigns using numbers in stead of letters, and such, and kids can't read / spell worth a shit now. We are becoming slaves to our electronic devices. I know people who can't read an analog clock; truly sad.

I don't think the spelling/grammar thing is actually related to technology at all. I think the cause of that is that more people are able to read and write now than in the past, and most people are fucking retarded. Even a hundred years ago, it most people in "advanced" nations were barely literate; the ones who could read and write then read and wrote better because they were the highly educated, whereas now every random ass person can read and write. Again though, random ass people are mostly stupid, so even though they can read and write, they do so poorly. It has nothing to do with the technology.

 

And finally:

 

 

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

[Battra92]

That aside, I do like the portability that we are introducing, and the integration. I like being able to seamlessly connect my phone to my pc, and then have my pc steam to my console and my tv (I really hate "smart" tvs though. I do not want to watch shitty, grainy youtube videos on my nice hd flatscreen tv; I don't even want to watch hd youtube videos on it).

 

I agree. I feel sad that most of the general public won't touch Blu-Ray with a 10 foot pole and yet are excited to watch Justin Beiber pretend to sing through the 3 inch screens of their phones. Somewhere Philo T Farnsworth is weeping again.

 

I think, that eventually the growth will become too fast. The consumers won't be able to keep up, and we will want to revert; that's far off though, sadly. I miss when spelling properly was a good thing. I now see tons of campaigns using numbers in stead of letters, and such, and kids can't read / spell worth a shit now. We are becoming slaves to our electronic devices. I know people who can't read an analog clock; truly sad.

 

The other day a woman at work told me I have "beautiful handwriting." I think that too is a lost art. What bugs me is that people assume that because I'm in IT I want to see their newest iPenis-replacement. Seriously, Nothankyou!.jpg

[Akuam4n]

Out of curiosity, what do you have against the cloud?

I don't like the cloud, because it's helping spur along the dissolution of physical media (Or, in my opinion it is). I like my cds, dvds, actual books, and so on. I love the cloud for some things. Steam cloud is nice, dropbox is nice, cloud contacts, etc, etc. I don't like the idea of having everything on my computer in the cloud, or having no physical media eventually because it's all going to be digital (that's not really the clouds fault though, that's just a new general theme, everything has to be portable, so digital works best for movies / music).

 

They say it's still years away though until everything goes digital. I hope it's pretty far off.

 

The other day a woman at work told me I have "beautiful handwriting." I think that too is a lost art. What bugs me is that people assume that because I'm in IT I want to see their newest iPenis-replacement. Seriously, Nothankyou!.jpg

I have terrible handwriting. I'm left handed though, and was always forced to write in a right handed desk. Plus, they forced us to learn cursive for a year, and then just dropped that. So my handwriting looks crooked, and is cursive and straight hand combined. It's odd, and very hard to read.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Iamaquaman

[deanb]

I hate the cloud, and that everything seems to moving that way.

I love The Cloud. Think it's great. I think maybe you're using the cloud for something that isn't mind. DVD, CDs etc would be "digital distribution" which has way more applications than just media. I'll add some stuff on to that at the bottom.

The cloud-cloud though is amazing. I'm a huge fan of Dropbox, Gdocs, evernote etc. I can just go in class, even without a PC and do work, then go home and poof pop open evernote or my browser, dropbox folder and it's all there too. I lose my flashdrive, no worries( my flash drive these days is mostly just A Portable Apps thing anyway). I love being a "Digital Nomad". Also over Xmas I could pop open dropbox or whatever on my phone (I should maybe get more into Picassa) and show my gran some of my pictures n stuff. She's got no PC so it's about the only way I could do that (Oh and she loved using hte touch screen for going through images)

 

That aside, I do like the portability that we are introducing, and the integration. I like being able to seamlessly connect my phone to my pc, and then have my pc steam to my console and my tv (I really hate "smart" tvs though. I do not want to watch shitty, grainy youtube videos on my nice hd flatscreen tv; I don't even want to watch hd youtube videos on it).

The Smart TV is more of a compromise between the fact HTPC's are a really good idea, but no one wants them. They'll probably evolve over time. I'm hoping maybe for some kind of Honeycomb integration, could really spice it up. Just build Tegra into your TV and you're sorted.

 

 

In a way too, I think Steve Jobs spurred technology forward. He created the iPod, and iTunes. Then the iPhone, and now the iPad. Smartphones, digital distribution giants, and tablets. He is taking another leave of absence for this health this year, and I am curious who is going to really shape the tech world if he dies (or, soon rather; he will obviously die). Not meaning to turn this into a hate fest about jobs either, I think most people even if they hate him can see what he has done to the tech world.

Arrgh... Cos there's a time n a place for the Steve Jobs hate fest I'll just point out that all he did was popularize the smartphone. He did not create them, nor will he lead their future and the market. The iPhone's are being grossly outpaced by what Androids' can do now. Gaming is about the only the only stepping stone on that. (if folks wish to discuss more Apple things, another thread can be made)

Oh n the same will happen with tablets too. There's only one iPad, one iPhone. There's many Android devices and this lets the consumers pick the direction of the market, rather than being told what they want. And the App Store on MAcs is kinda hilarious/disturbing. For one, Steam has clearly being doing it a while longer but on top of that I don't think their policies for a walled garden phone will work on a desktop.

So I guess overall it's a good thing Apple aren't leading the direction of tech at the moment.

 

I think, that eventually the growth will become too fast. The consumers won't be able to keep up, and we will want to revert; that's far off though, sadly. I miss when spelling properly was a good thing. I now see tons of campaigns using numbers in stead of letters, and such, and kids can't read / spell worth a shit now. We are becoming slaves to our electronic devices. I know people who can't read an analog clock; truly sad.

I think maybe some folks are being too precious about language sometimes. As long as the meaning gets across fine who cares if we use thru instead of through or that I'll be l8 this evening. It's kind of an evolution of our now high speed lives. Google make Google instant, shaving of a whole 0.0008 seconds off a search, but in this day and age, that's eons.

Also it's maybe not too bad most folks are used to typing over writing ,at least it means everyone is legible.

 

 

Also I'm with Battra on the love of a nice crisp shiny Blu-Ray in HD than some shitty low bit stream. Why spend hundreds of pounds on a TV then use it to display some crappy feed. I don't mind on regular TV, soaps etc. But I wouldn't want to watch stuff like ..Tron or Star Trek etc in anything less than Blu-Ray since the option is available.

But we're probably just videophiles

[Akuam4n]

The Smart TV is more of a compromise between the fact HTPC's are a really good idea, but no one wants them. They'll probably evolve over time. I'm hoping maybe for some kind of Honeycomb integration, could really spice it up. Just build Tegra into your TV and you're sorted.

I'm thinking eventually the tv will just be a massive all in one pc. It'll have a harddrive for storing shows, etc, and it will have tons of connections, and it will come with an actual keyboard, and a remote. You'll just pop up the interface over whatever you're watching, and go. Pretty much what the tv's are now, but better, and they will have an actual decent gui and operating system.

 

Arrgh... Cos there's a time n a place for the Steve Jobs hate fest I'll just point out that all he did was popularize the smartphone. He did not create them, nor will he lead their future and the market. The iPhone's are being grossly outpaced by what Androids' can do now. Gaming is about the only the only stepping stone on that. (if folks wish to discuss more Apple things, another thread can be made)

Oh n the same will happen with tablets too. There's only one iPad, one iPhone. There's many Android devices and this lets the consumers pick the direction of the market, rather than being told what they want. And the App Store on Macs is kinda hilarious/disturbing. For one, Steam has clearly being doing it a while longer but on top of that I don't think their policies for a walled garden phone will work on a desktop.

So I guess overall it's a good thing Apple aren't leading the direction of tech at the moment.

I know he didn't invent the smartphone. xD But in my mind, whoever makes something popular, deserves the same amount of credit, or more than the creator. He spurred the smartphone craze (IMO). The iPhone sold like crazy, and now Android and other smartphones have gui options that look like the iPhone (not in colour or anything, just the way it works). Granted, most of that is because there is no other good way to organize your home screen and such now I suppose. He also created the tablet craze (IMO). Even Vizio is making a tablet and smartphone now. All of that is opinion though. It'll be interesting this summer to see what sells more if they roll out the iPhone5 (or whatever it'll be called) though, in since it will be on Verizon and AT&T.

 

And some people like how there is just one iPhone and one iPad. It doesn't lead to fragmentation. I think if Android was on the same release on every phone, it'd dominate the iPhone, but, it never will be. It will always be fragmented (as of now anyway). That's a personal thing too though. I would rather just wait a year and get the software update, and be happy knowing I will get most of the functions, while still retaining my phone zippy speed. Some people would rather just go out and buy a new phone if the next Android update will slow it down, rather than miss out.

 

I think maybe some folks are being too precious about language sometimes. As long as the meaning gets across fine who cares if we use thru instead of through or that I'll be l8 this evening. It's kind of an evolution of our now high speed lives. Google make Google instant, shaving of a whole 0.0008 seconds off a search, but in this day and age, that's eons.

Also it's maybe not too bad most folks are used to typing over writing ,at least it means everyone is legible.

If we were in the army, and at war or something, maybe those 0.0008 seconds would matter. But right now, I am sure my friends don't need them, and could spare the extra second or two or three keystrokes to spell correctly. I don't mind the typing instead of writing, I just think having everyone using lame abbreviations all the time is a bad idea. Eventually good grammar will just disappear as a standard. That agessss off though, if that was to happen.

[Thursday Next]

I'm thinking eventually the tv will just be a massive all in one pc. It'll have a harddrive for storing shows, etc, and it will have tons of connections, and it will come with an actual keyboard, and a remote. You'll just pop up the interface over whatever you're watching, and go. Pretty much what the tv's are now, but better, and they will have an actual decent gui and operating system.

 

I agree the TV will become more PC like, but I think that it will go the way of the Cloud rather than HDD's. As for keyboards / remotes, it's as likely that you'll be able to use your smart phone to interface with your TV. That way your input device will be context sensitive. Traditional TV remote style for watching TV, qwerty layout for internetting.

 

Also, you could stream from the TV to the smart phone if you need to answer the door or take a dump or whatever and don't want to pause the show.

[TheMightyEthan]

I agree with dean about the grammar thing. Why is it important? Language evolves, it's not some static thing. So what's "good grammar" now will seem archaic in the future. It's always been that way, and it always will be that way. It doesn't mean the language is deteriorating, just changing.

 

So until you start speaking like a Shakespearean character, or better yet a character from Beowulf, don't talk about the language deteriorating.

[deanb]

Ah yeah I mentioned I'd add a bit on this then forgot.

 

http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

Movies, Games, Music etc via digital distribution is going to seem old school with what the RepRap can bring. There's several projects like this that are maybe a good decade off being in many homes, for now it's a engineers toy.

It's also going to make game n movie piracy look lame in comparison. It would allow you to go "oh hey, I want a spoon". You download the latest blueprints and print one out. Electronics would be more out of the league of it's capabilities, but nearly everything else, just common shapes are within reach. Why go and buy a manakin when I can get the designs off the web, pour some plastic in the machine and poof, got my own manakin. I'm not sure on what you need as production material, but if you could just shred a coke bottle then put the plastic from that in a hopper, it technically doesn't even cost you anything either. You're turning what would be rubbish into something usable.

 

Oh and if you've watched the video you've picked this up but it's also self-replicating. Reprap can make another reprap. Which means that it has the potential to become near 0 in cost of production. (also implications in machines making machines)

 

Sure it's not as fancy or impressive as a Star Trek replicator, but it's something that could be come a disruptive technology.

[Vargras]

I think, that eventually the growth will become too fast. The consumers won't be able to keep up, and we will want to revert; that's far off though, sadly. I miss when spelling properly was a good thing. I now see tons of campaigns using numbers in stead of letters, and such, and kids can't read / spell worth a shit now. We are becoming slaves to our electronic devices. I know people who can't read an analog clock; truly sad.

 

That was actually something I was going to mention.

 

Sort of touching on this, I read that there was a growing number of children who couldn't read an analog clock (let alone one with Roman numerals, good grief) simply because of the large number of digital clocks on schools these days.

 

Warning: Massive picture ahead.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Vargras

[deanb]

Sort of touching on this, I read that there was a growing number of children who couldn't read an analog clock (let alone one with Roman numerals, good grief) simply because of the large number of digital clocks on schools these days.

 

I don't much see that as a problem either. It's like folks not knowing how to rewind a tape, or correctly use a quill. Times move on, we don't much need the analog clock other than for a fashion piece. It's why I go for dual-clocks. An analog face, cos I find them stylish, but the digital part built into the bottom half, cos I just find it much more functional.

Like this: http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/105/423105_081022170119_Casio-aws90-7av-solar.jpg

[TheMightyEthan]

See, I don't like those combinations. For a watch I prefer straight-analog. But it also doesn't bother me that other people can't read an analog clock because, like you say, it's just changing times (ha!). I don't have the foggiest idea how to use a slide rule, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

[Battra92]

I agree with dean about the grammar thing. Why is it important? Language evolves, it's not some static thing. So what's "good grammar" now will seem archaic in the future. It's always been that way, and it always will be that way. It doesn't mean the language is deteriorating, just changing.

 

So until you start speaking like a Shakespearean character, or better yet a character from Beowulf, don't talk about the language deteriorating.

 

Many people who hate good grammar and spelling are really just those who are incapable of either. I'm not implying that you aren't capable of properly using the Queen's English but try and apply for a job outside of manual labor using sentence fragments and abbreviations. People expect to hire someone competent and educated and not someone who is literate at a third grade level.

 

See, I don't like those combinations. For a watch I prefer straight-analog. But it also doesn't bother me that other people can't read an analog clock because, like you say, it's just changing times (ha!). I don't have the foggiest idea how to use a slide rule, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

 

See a slide rule is a tool that was difficult to use because there was no alternative for complex computation. Knowing how to use a slide rule is akin to knowing how to hand develop C-41 color film (most is digital and when film is developed it is done by a minilab machine where the film goes in one side and comes out developed on the other.)

 

Conversely, reading an analog clock is something that I learned officially in kindergarten or at the very latest, second grade, although I believe my mother taught me how before I learned it in school.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Battra92

[deanb]

Yeah but facebook, twitter, forums etc aren't a job interview. I can understand wanting that sort of thing for more formal occasions, but for everything else it doesn't really matter.

[Battra92]

Yeah but facebook, twitter, forums etc aren't a job interview. I can understand wanting that sort of thing for more formal occasions, but for everything else it doesn't really matter.

 

Right or wrong, if a friend or acquaintance of mine only communicates to me with "hey sup lol" I will automatically assume that they have a double digit IQ.

[staySICK]

I think I annoy some people when I text. I refuse to abbreviate anything, taking the time to type "you" and whatnot. Of course, its totes easier now with Swype.

 

I'd be sending a text on my iPhone and people would ask me if I was using it to write a novel.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah but facebook, twitter, forums etc aren't a job interview. I can understand wanting that sort of thing for more formal occasions, but for everything else it doesn't really matter.

 

Right or wrong, if a friend or acquaintance of mine only communicates to me with "hey sup lol" I will automatically assume that they have a double digit IQ.

See, to me that's your problem though.

 

And I don't hate good grammar, I try to use it to the best of my ability (and like StaySICK I don't use abbreviations even when texting, except stuff like lol, though I do often leave out apostrophes and capital letters), but if I receive a text that says "wut r u doin" I think it's silly, I don't think the person is stupid.

 

*Edit* - I do have a thing for run-on sentences though.

 

I guess what I mean is that for stuff like texting or IMing I write like I speak, i.e. mostly correctly, but not adhering to all the rules. For stuff like forum posts I get a little bit more proper still, but not perfect. For formal things (such as school papers or whatever) I write correctly to the best of my abilities.

[Akuam4n]

When I text, I use proper grammer. I even put in apostrophes, capital letters, etc. I do use, lol, rofl, etc, etc because I think it helps to convey my state of mind. I'm pretty sarcastic and something people ask me if I'm kidding; adding rofl or lol helps.

 

Also, about language evolving, I don't see how using "l8r" is an evolution, or any of the others. We now write how we speak. I understand that some people do it because it's faster, but those people also know how to type correctly (most of the time). The problem I have with it is, it's rubbing off on little kids who have cell phones, and other things. You should learn how to spell, write, etc before you use any of those.

 

Kids are far too influential for them to see any of this and think it's fine at a young age.

 

Also, I agree, most of the time when I get something like "wut r u doin" I think the person is an idiot; and most of the time they are (I have a few exceptions though, of course).

 

[TheMightyEthan]

For the vast majority of people whether they write well or not will never, ever be an issue once they're out of school. Those for whom it will be an issue will more than likely learn to write properly.

 

I believe that to the extent a problem exists it's a problem with the school system, not a problem with the technology.

[Akuam4n]

I do believe they stopped having "English" as part of my curriculum by the time I was in 8th or 9th grade. After that it was straight up literature. It was funny, because then suddenly in 12th when we were doing prep for the SAT, some people couldn't answer some questions about grammar, so our teacher literally took an entire week to go over the basics and such for the SAT.

 

That to me, was a problem; but I digress.

 

(Also, I don't mean to come off as a grammar elitist. I make mistakes all the time, and use far too many commas. ;D)

[TheMightyEthan]

I can use English quite well, but most of my "book knowledge" about grammar, like the kind of thing the SAT might ask about, actually comes from my French classes. That's were I learned the names of different tenses (present-progressive, past-conditional, etc) and such.

 

*Edit* - At the same time, however, I still think it's silly to say "this is what is right, and you are wrong if you do anything differently" because, as I said, the language has always changed, and will continue to change. Sure the first few new adopters of a new word or grammatical construction will seem strange or stupid to others, but once it's become widely adopted it's part of the language and isn't wrong anymore.

 

Fun fact: using "they" for a non-gendered singular pronoun has only recently become "wrong".

 

—Usage note

Long before the use of generic he was condemned as sexist, the pronouns they, their, and them were used in educated speech and in all but the most formal writing to refer to indefinite pronouns and to singular nouns of general personal reference, probably because such nouns are often not felt to be exclusively singular: If anyone calls, tell them I'll be back at six. Everyone began looking for their books at once. Such use is not a recent development, nor is it a mark of ignorance. Shakespeare, Swift, Shelley, Scott, and Dickens, as well as many other English and American writers, have used they and its forms to refer to singular antecedents. Already widespread in the language (though still rejected as ungrammatical by some), this use of they, their, and them is increasing in all but the most conservatively edited American English. This increased use is at least partly impelled by the desire to avoid the sexist implications of he as a pronoun of general reference.

[TheMightyEthan]

So this probably isn't what Dean had in mind, but is certainly within the broad topic of the thread:

 

Japanese scientists plan to resurrect a mammoth through cloning.

[CorgiShinobi]

As far as language and grammar, take a deep breath. I too write out almost all of my words in texts, but just because someone will use "l8r" or "U" shouldn't be classified as an idiot. The March of Technology, as we'll call it, is also a march towards simplicity. Everything becomes easier in time. Truth be told, I think the acceleration of technology also makes one feel older.

 

I mean, there was just an issue on how children communicate. Are we going to talk about the music they listen to as well? Oh wait, we already mentioned Bieber.

 

You know, I use to have fantastic handwriting. However, as time progressed, everything from education to everyday matters was rushed. Primarily, through note-taking, my handwriting became like some ancient Arabic manuscript. Why? Teachers were taking advantage of technology to display more information in class. My father still has great handwriting, but I'd put money down on it that he didn't have to rush ten pages of notes from a PowerPoint.

 

Forget Print or Cursive, by handwriting is like a hybrid of the two after ten years. Hell, I'd say sometime in the future my kids will be able to forge my signature because my signature is rarely consistent. Then again, who can really write on current electronic signature pads.

 

Slitl, dlaorls to dnotus yu'lol be albe to raed tihs bcuseae wr'ee flmiaizreaid to tshee wrdos.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Atomsk88

[Pirandello]

My thoughts on technology advancement is that they are too slow.

 

Or, actually, too slow in the fields that matter: medicine, communications, and space technologies.

 

But, unfortunately, we are all very busy trying to perfect weapons of war to be concerned with anything else.