Is Technology Good For You?

When technology works we take it for granted, as should be the case. The light bulb, the telephone, the car, and more recently the computer and the internet are all now commonplace. But their everyday use is changing the world beyond imagination.

The Smartphone

The smartphone is one of the most recent technologies to whiz from its inception in the last ten years to a point where there are now almost two billion devices.

It is estimated that by 2020 six billion smartphones will be in use amongst a global population of over seven billion people as the number of devices grows exponentially.

Smartphones have increased in capability and complexity and we use them incessantly in a variety of ways to communicate at all times of the day and night.

In parallel with the development of the smartphone other technologies such as cloud computing and broadband are constructing an infrastructure that snakes into every corner of the planet.

People through the use of computers and smartphones and machines through the use of embedded chips and intelligent capabilities, are connecting everybody and everything on an unprecedented and mindboggling scale.

And the process is only beginning as manufactures embed chips to suck in data and provide feedback to inform and improve the next generation of products.

Such all-embracing information-gathering connectivity is referred to as the Internet of Things and it is forming a platform for people and machines to talk to each other on a nonstop basis.

The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is inventing and disrupting countless jobs and scores of industries, as it collects and connects billions of bits of information each day.

It represents a new era of technology and changing how businesses operate, government and public sector organisations work, and, for better or worse, how we live.

The internet is already affecting every conceivable aspect of the economy and increasing its influence as greater numbers of people get connected.

Technology’s effect is not always good as new types of crime are created and privacy suffers, as do people and businesses that fail to grasp the sweep of the revolution.

Smartphones are only one of many devices dictating our lives as homes, cars, workplaces, shopping habits, leisure time, hobbies, and even our health and fitness regimes are all digitally driven.

Connectedness and connectivity are changing how we behave too, as new patterns emerge with our use of digital devices.

It is difficult to predict how technology will advance but it is certain to play a greater role in monitoring and controlling what we do.

Its dominance will be greater than we can imagine, as new and far-reaching technologies are deployed on a daily basis to do their silent deeds.

SO, technology in all its forms and fetters is tightening its grasp on everything it touches and, more than ever before, we must stay alert to stay ahead.