Has Technology Almost Reached a Zenith Period?

[df79transam]

Even Anakin Skywalker didn't have that.

I bet he dreamed of it like myself ;-) lol

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[sixty_four]

I'm the opposite and I'm constantly amazed by what smartphones these days can do. Although I do agree that new phones seem to be more of an evolution of previous designs rather than something truly innovative, these are really just endpoint devices in what has grown to be a pretty impressive infrastructure.

The magic isn't in the phone, it's in the infrastructure. Fast wireless networks, huge content providers, GPS satellite access. Stuff like that. If you could somehow go back in time 100 years with a 2014 smartphone, it would be little more than a glorified Gameboy. Sure it would seem miraculous to someone in the early 1900s but the real wow factor - talking to anyone in the world, navigating by satellite, accessing seemingly endless books, movies, music - would be missing.

I can't imagine everything that has to happen between my phone and whatever service I'm talking to when I'm out and about thinking of going to dinner and a movie, using IMDB to swipe through movie listings, watching trailers on Youtube, buying tickets on Fandango, finding a nearby restaurant, calling to make reservations and navigating by voice-guided directions to the theater. Twenty short years ago, all of that would have been impossible. I would even say that 10 years ago, the workflow and process of doing all of the above would be a clumsier and a lot more frustrating.

So I say, no - technology hasn't reached a zenith. Just because the sleek, sexy piece of glass you hold in your hand doesn't seem that much different than last year's model, that doesn't mean development and innovation has ground to a halt.

 

[df79transam]

I'm the opposite and I'm constantly amazed by what smartphones these days can do. Although I do agree that new phones seem to be more of an evolution of previous designs rather than something truly innovative, these are really just endpoint devices in what has grown to be a pretty impressive infrastructure.

The magic isn't in the phone, it's in the infrastructure. Fast wireless networks, huge content providers, GPS satellite access. Stuff like that. If you could somehow go back in time 100 years with a 2014 smartphone, it would be little more than a glorified Gameboy. Sure it would seem miraculous to someone in the early 1900s but the real wow factor - talking to anyone in the world, navigating by satellite, accessing seemingly endless books, movies, music - would be missing.

I can't imagine everything that has to happen between my phone and whatever service I'm talking to when I'm out and about thinking of going to dinner and a movie, using IMDB to swipe through movie listings, watching trailers on Youtube, buying tickets on Fandango, finding a nearby restaurant, calling to make reservations and navigating by voice-guided directions to the theater. Twenty short years ago, all of that would have been impossible. I would even say that 10 years ago, the workflow and process of doing all of the above would be a clumsier and a lot more frustrating.

So I say, no - technology hasn't reached a zenith. Just because the sleek, sexy piece of glass you hold in your hand doesn't seem that much different than last year's model, that doesn't mean development and innovation has ground to a halt.

Very insightful, congrats

 

[N_LaRUE]

My opinion behind this, being a person who has been an admirer of tech since the first home computer came out. I think we've just simply gotten used to 'wow'. I blame Apple partially for that personally but it's just part of the tech world where you reach a point of 'where do we go from here' and what is 'usable' tech.

As people have pointed out, we simply live in wow. Internet and information at our fingertips, smartphones (pocket computers), being able to communicate instantly with anyone at any time around the world from almost anywhere. Our data speeds are increasing. The CPUs are getting faster. The RAM is getting higher. So we're always left wondering, what's next?

How about phones with unbreakable screens? Folding screens? A phone that replaces your computer completely? Battery life that lasts a week or more on one charge? I could go on but you get my point.

There's lots of room for more wow. We're still in infancy as far as I'm concerned. There's lots of room to grow and lots more wow to be had.

I've seen tech grow since Pong was created and I remember the wow of using my first computer, no hard drive, no colour screen but I was still amazed. I remember the first CDs. It's difficult to keep that amazement up but I still love seeing what's coming. I'd say at the moment we're a bit stagnate but that happens. The PC had it in the 90s and it was just a matter of time with smartphones.

Give it time, I'm sure things will move once again.

 

[walterg1]

I think right now we are being held back by battery technology.
Its slowing down phone development.

Better screen technology,
Bigger processors,better cameras, requires better batteries.

We also need to find a way to cool the phones .
Who wants a phone that gets hot.
Tho, I think this technology already exists but hasn't been implemented.

Another big holdup is network speeds.
The carriers need reliable fast 4g speeds everywhere.
At the rate they are going will they even get there before 5g starts rolling out in 2020.

Once that happens Chromephones will be one possible future.

 

[walterg1]

My opinion behind this, being a person who has been an admirer of tech since the first home computer came out. I think we've just simply gotten used to 'wow'. I blame Apple partially for that personally but it's just part of the tech world where you reach a point of 'where do we go from here' and what is 'usable' tech.

As people have pointed out, we simply live in wow. Internet and information at our fingertips, smartphones (pocket computers), being able to communicate instantly with anyone at any time around the world from almost anywhere. Our data speeds are increasing. The CPUs are getting faster. The RAM is getting higher. So we're always left wonder, what's next?

How about phones with unbreakable screens? Folding screens? A phone that replaces your computer completely? Battery life that lasts a week or more on one charge? I could go on but you get my point.

There's lots of room for more wow. We're still in infancy as far as I'm concerned. There's lots of room to grow and lots more wow to be had.

I've seen tech grow since Pong was created and I remember the wow of using my first computer, no hard drive, no colour screen but I was still amazed. I remember the first CDs. It's difficult to keep that amazement up but I still love seeing what's coming. I'd say at the moment we're a bit stagnate but that happens. The PC had it in the 90s and it was just a matter of time with smartphones.

Give it time, I'm sure things will move once again.

A friend of mine had Pong. I played it when it first came out.

I remember getting my first Atari and saving up for cartridges.

I remember when calculator watches came out.
As soon as the prices dropped enough I bought one.
I thought they were so cool.

Had a pager when they were popular also.

Technology has advanced so far its easy to take for granted what we have now.

 

[N_LaRUE]

A friend of mine had Pong. I played it when it first came out.

I remember getting my first Atari and saving up for cartridges.

I remember when calculator watches came out.
As soon as the prices dropped enough I bought one.
I thought they were so cool.

Had a pager when they were popular also.

Technology has advanced so far its easy to take for granted what we have now.

We got a second hand Pong and I never owned an Atari but had friends with them. Same with Commodore 64.I owned a calculator watch as well!

I never bothered with a pager, I went straight to mobile once it became less obnoxious to own one.

Our first computer at home was a Timex Sinclair and at school I was lucky enough to use a Commodore PET though I may have used something else prior to that but I'm not sure, too long ago.

 

[Inders99]

Next big stop, implanted devices in our bodies.

Now if I could only get one for my brain...

 

[LeoRex]

We've reached a plateau, not a peak. Happens a lot throughout human history and it really boils down to one thing... energy. How easily we can access it and how well we can utilize it. We're kind of tapped out at the moment.... mankind's energy demand is approaching its ability to supply it.... and it stands to only get worse while we figure out a way to transition from fossil fuels to something that won't bork the environment. And we're trying to do that at the same time a vast part of the developing world is finally coming into the technological age.

We're being held back by energy.... electronic devices that have changed the world over the past half century or so are transitioning to a mobile stage.... getting rid of wires, whether they be power or data. But all those devices need a lot of electricity. Yes, battery technology needs to improve, not just incremental, but orders of magnitude. And all that power has to come from somewhere, so power generation needs to improve as well.... whether it be fusion or some new tech that can not only meet, but exceed demand by leaps and bounds. Once the power is there, technological advancement will follow, and follow quickly.

Go back through history.... all those bursts of technological advancement were triggered by something... fire, learning how to hardness wind or water, coal, oil, natural gas... To make the next step, we're going to need a lot more energy to get us there.

In the last 100 years or so, technology has advanced quicker than in the thousands of years previously. Why? Just look at this graph of fossil fuel emissions... a decent as any indication as to how much energy we are producing.

 

[derrick_lwh]

the problem is those fancy futuristic techs that you have just mentioned have usability issues. imagine you have a 3d projection hologram from your home desk, try to use it by pointing and gesturing in the air for a period of time, you'll probably end up with arthritis haha.

but i do admit it will be the next great thing to see though

 

[zynigma]

I remember when calculator watches came out.
As soon as the prices dropped enough I bought one.
I thought they were so cool.
I Had a pager when they were popular also.
Technology has advanced so far its easy to take for granted what we have now.

Technology really has taken an amazing bound. Imagine reviving someone in the year 1300 that died in year 1100 (200 years after he died). If you showed them all the newest inventions (including sports, hobbies, advances in medicine, manufacturing, cooking methods, transportation, etc.), they probably wouldn't be too blown away (maybe just a little). That outcome remains true for almost any point in time.... except this last 200 years. If we revived someone that died in year 1815 today, and showed them all the newest inventions, their state of awe would be exponentially higher than the guy that was revived in 1300. A very high exponential.

We are in a wonderful time in that sense. But one day, we may be considered the guy that died in year 1100...

 

[Jack0815]

My opinion behind this, being a person who has been an admirer of tech since the first home computer came out. I think we've just simply gotten used to 'wow'. I blame Apple partially for that personally but it's just part of the tech world where you reach a point of 'where do we go from here' and what is 'usable' tech.

As people have pointed out, we simply live in wow. Internet and information at our fingertips, smartphones (pocket computers), being able to communicate instantly with anyone at any time around the world from almost anywhere. Our data speeds are increasing. The CPUs are getting faster. The RAM is getting higher. So we're always left wondering, what's next?

How about phones with unbreakable screens? Folding screens? A phone that replaces your computer completely? Battery life that lasts a week or more on one charge? I could go on but you get my point.

There's lots of room for more wow. We're still in infancy as far as I'm concerned. There's lots of room to grow and lots more wow to be had.

I've seen tech grow since Pong was created and I remember the wow of using my first computer, no hard drive, no colour screen but I was still amazed. I remember the first CDs. It's difficult to keep that amazement up but I still love seeing what's coming. I'd say at the moment we're a bit stagnate but that happens. The PC had it in the 90s and it was just a matter of time with smartphones.

Give it time, I'm sure things will move once again.

I definitly go with this opinion. I am kind of supprised that nobody mentioned Occulus Rift yet. With all those nice exhibition (CES, IFA etc.) and all those "leaks" we get informed a lot quicker. Most times even before products are available or even manufactured. That they don´t blow our mind any more after we have already seen them plenty of times on tech-blogs is not a big suprise.
In certain fields of technology it might seem like there are not lots of developments (e.g. battery life). But sometimes we are just used to new things, e.g. that the next phone will have higher resolution (and still is able to get the same battery life).
For me, personally, there are always some tine things that I "wow" about every now and then. Btw. on reddit is a nice category "This week in technology", maybe you will find something there

 

[abazigal]

I think the challenge has always been more of how to make these technologies suitable and relevant to consumers, and how to market it to them.

Google glass is the best example. Cool tech, bad implementation, and at the end of the day, people just didn't care because they couldn't see how it was relevant to their lives.

 

[LeoRex]

Google glass is the best example. Cool tech, bad implementation, and at the end of the day, people just didn't care because they couldn't see how it was relevant to their lives.

Yep... technology needs utility to grow. GG.... you know, I can see that being an AWESOME tool for surgeons, or paramedics, 1st responders, etc. There, that kind of quick access to information and all, it could save lives.

For the average Joe on the street? Well, they look like complete idiots.

 

[df79transam]

Yep... technology needs utility to grow. GG.... you know, I can see that being an AWESOME tool for surgeons, or paramedics, 1st responders, etc. There, that kind of quick access to information and all, it could save lives.

For the average Joe on the street? Well, they look like complete idiots.

I totally agree with you for it being good for first responders or medically means.

 

[LeoRex]

I totally agree with you for it being good for first responders or medically means.

Right.... the trick to getting a new tech to stick is having it being useful without it being redundant. I mean, look at smartphones.... in terms of tech, its one of those 'killer' devices. You have always on communication using countless different means (voice call, text, messaging, social, etc). Access to the internet, apps, navigation... you name it. Once the prices dropped a bit and the technology became accessible to a larger audience, it has exploded.

The problem with GG is that for the average person, it just takes the utility of a smartphone, cripples the interface a bit and adds in a bit of gimmicky functionality. Now, the concept itself might end up taking over from smartphones some day, but that would require some additional leaps in technology to get there.... GG is pretty much the peak of that type of immersive tech, and its just not there yet. So GG's usefullness is limited to situations where its current form would make sense. I certainly don't think it is going away.... this was just the pilot program for it.

But, as I mentioned, we're going to be stuck in a bit of a rut while they figure out the power situation. The companies that are building the processors are focusing more on power usage now and less and less on computational power. With the hard shift to mobile tech, power efficiency trumps processing power. The top of the line processors available today are mind mindbogglingly powerful, but all that power is wasted if it ends up killing someone's battery in half the time. Give them twice the charge in the same package..... and you'll see a massive leap.