‘Change’- as they say- is the way of life. Moore’s Law predicted that the processing power of computers would double every eighteen months, and boy, haven’t those predictions come true!
In 1975, we could just begin to envisage what computers could do. Kenneth Olsen, President and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation remarked in 1977 that:
“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer at home.�
“The telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us,� said Western Union Internal Memo in 1876.
Today, computers, software and the internet are creating opportunities for people everywhere. It is expanding productivity, firing imaginations with creativity and putting dreams of people in their own hands!
The future promises to be brighter.
The clock dates the second of February, 2013 and it’s my mother’s birthday- her golden jubilee! I, at Harvard Business School, am miles away from home and my mother, my heart and soul making me passionate vis-à -vis giving my mother a revelation- a big one!
Everyone in my family is connected over a 10Mbps satellite internet connection, a tera-hertz computer, a million pixel CCD video camera and shared calendars. I instantly fix up a time for the big one, when every one is at his terminal be it at home, work or school and blast! My potential, mind’s imagination and creativity and tools were technology’s most precious gifts take me and my family into a virtual party with the presence of all loved ones. Sharing laughter, tears, memories and even a virtual dinner- technology gets it all happening – from different parts of the globe!
The future of technology shall have the most profound impact on the professional dimension of human life. Imagine I am the CEO of ArcTech®, the largest architecture and design firm on the globe. I get a client with a great project at hand – designing a 267-storied tall tower. The client talks over VoIP from the state of New York in the United States to me in my office in Taipei. The deal gets finalized and a contract summary expected by the client within the hour. I make a brief overview of the proposed project and share it with my Director of Operations at New York over optical-fiber video conferencing. Soon the officer contacts me back with the complete outline which is passed with amendments by the board and I put it back to the client. He approves, gets inspired by our on-time synchronized work and gives us two more projects. That’s $1 billion worth of profit signed up for in just 44 minutes- by the clock! Isn’t it work@thought, powered by technology?
“A good teacher teaches,
A better teacher explains,
A great teacher demonstrates,
But the best one inspires!�
Information and communication technology shall help inspire the creative genius of potential Einsteins and Newtons and lead to more innovative and path breaking discoveries. A virtual classroom where even villagers are taught by some of the most renowned teachers on the earth (precise the purpose of India’s EDUSAT satellite), where live discussions is made through V-SAT classrooms and problems resolved by a virtual online community are all the future promises of technology.
Information and communication technology shall also redefine medical care by introducing telemedicine and e-consulting on a practical and accessible scale – all contributions that shall make the world a global village
In short, how the growth of Information and Communication technology shall affect my future can be beautifully summarized in the following quatrain:
“Technology indeed forms the backbone of the future-
Potential it has to heal and to nurture:
Time shall make grow to attain a new height;
And it shall make my future- happy, prosperous and bright!�
–Gopal