Changing trends in technology

The world has come a long way. The humble beginnings of the ‘early’ man have given way to a modern, sophisticated and technologically advanced society. Today’s world is fast. In fact, ‘fast’ seems like an understatement. Technology, today is taking giant strides, whizzing past the laggards at dizzying speeds like a juggernaut not showing the slightest inclination to stop. It’s the age of snazzy mobile phones and PDA’s, cutting edge laptops, funky mp3 players, glitzy laser crystal displays and mind-boggling global positioning systems. Newer models and configurations are being launched at the drop of a hat.

Integration is in vogue, fuelled by the insatiable appetite to multitask. Everything, nowadays serves multiple functions. From headphones which measure your blood pressure to watches which double up as mp3 players and from sunglasses which can play videos to talking cars and t-shirts with temperature control, the list can go on…
There are some who claim to be addicted to these ‘marvels’, lapping them up as they make their way out from factories and warehouses while others brush them aside as unimportant, esoteric rubbish. Their argument? How many of these have actually lasted beyond the initial hype? Are these simply fancy names, then, which make for good reading?

There seems to have crept a certain sense of saturation into the technological arena. Most of the path-breaking discoveries and iconoclastic inventions took place in the 19th and the early 20th centuries. Since then, there has been a kind of a vacuum in that department. What we hear about today are just fatuous additions, subtle modifications and obvious improvisations. Once considered as a revolutionary concept, the car today is looked upon as an outcast in today’s society. CO emissions in large doses, generous contributions towards global warming and the inevitable traffic snarls haven’t really helped its cause. Governments are exhorting people to use public transport and to walk or cycle down short distances. Some go as far as to limit the number of cars per family. Now, owning just any car is no big deal but possessing a ‘hybrid’ version of a four-wheeler surely grabs a lot of eyeballs!

Mobile telephony was, I think, the most recent technological advancement which grabbed the people’s fantasy. Mobiles sold like hot cakes and they continue to do so. But, don’t we rely too much on our mobile-phones now? Haven’t we made them completely indispensable entities? Once a popular status symbol, it has now been reduced to a bare necessity. It is as if, your mobile number provides sole proof of your existence! Greetings, wishes and other formalities which would earlier be deemed complete only after a heartfelt conversation are now got over with cold SMSes while messages are conveyed with curt missed calls. The advancements in mobiles today, are all about higher resolution cameras and better multimedia sound quality which, really speaking has got nothing to do with the basic function of a phone!

The 20th century has been witness to the gradual change in the way people thought. That has translated into what we have invented , discovered and unearthed in our constant endeavour to progress. In the beginning, foundations were set, basics learnt and concepts established. Slowly, great scientists and researchers bore deep, unravelling fascinating mysteries about different aspects of science. Discoveries during this time revolutionised the world. They rewrote unwritten rules and redefined old paradigms. I think , they were simply waiting to be made. Necessity, not curiosity, was the father of invention then. Research was focussed on getting to know the subject better and gaining expertise. The bulb, the telephone and hundreds of other discoveries were, in a sense, serendipitous but they changed the way people thought.

But, slowly things have changed. Man has been there and done that. There is virtually nothing major left to discover. People are leading good lives with bulbs, mobiles, computers and ipods. The Moon has been conquered and nuclear energy harnessed. Now what? Has research stopped? No..certainly not. It has merely changed its nature. Research is now people-centric, aimed at making lives more comfortable and luxurious. Companies have virtually got into a rat-race in a bid to come up with products which appease the general masses. Suddenly, huge importance is being given to compactness. Smaller phones, sleeker laptops, faster computers.. all they have to do is to tweak their existing products here and there, reduce their size, give them a ‘feel-good’, contemporary look with a spanking new logo, throw in a few add-
ons and voila!..you get a ‘next generation’ product!

Today, every creation is aimed at erasing all efforts man has to make to eke out a living. ‘Manual’ is slowly being replaced by ‘Automatic'. Air-conditioners or stereo systems were great but people had to actually reach out to them to switch them on, so they came up with the idea of a remote control. This has now been extended to tube lights and fans also! It is this very relentless pursuit of appeasement that has led to the creation of frivolous and sometimes, purposeless products. One sometimes wonders whether all these have made life simpler or more complicated?
Well, love it or hate it, this trend is here to stay. It is thus, imperative that one is ‘in sync’ with the goings-on of today’s world to avoid being tagged as ‘ignorant’ or ‘backward’. So, pull your socks up and take stock!