Technologies & Business

8/12/2019 Technologies & Business

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Technologies that change lives 2

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3

TECHNOLOGIES THAT CHANGE WORK BUSINESS AND LIVES ................................................................. 5

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 10

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 11




INTRODUCTION

Technological innovations have been continually changing and shall continue to

significantly change every aspect of our work, life and business. Technology does not change

the gadgets we use but also heavily impacts the way people communicate with each other and

spend their time.

Few decades ago, some technologies such as laptops, cell phones, PDA’s, ATM

cards, internet etc which form an essential part of our daily lives today were not known to the

world. During that time, life was simple. People used traditional landline telephones and

wrote letters to stay connected with each other. Digital alarms, coffee makers, microwaves,

video calling facilities etc did not exist (Damanpour, 2008).

These days life without these technological provisions cannot even be imagined.

Technology has not just made our life easy but has enabled us to stay connected with each

other around the clock. The development of internet and social networking platforms has

made the world significantly smaller. In today’s world information systems exist to support

every activity carried out by humans. Computers and other smart devices form a part of every

activity and offer all information at a single click. This has significantly contributed to

designing the fast life we live today. Additionally, technology is also responsible for

completely transforming the way business operations are carried out. Databases store all the

required information and they can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Front end staff of

every company is trained in accessing information before stressing on building and

maintaining customer relations. Technological innovations such as video conferencing and

virtual chat rooms have proven to be extremely beneficial for international organizations.

These technologies have eliminated the need to be physically present in places and allowed

humans to virtually replace themselves (Cairncross, 2003).




Thus, in its complete sense, technological innovations have played a major role in

shaping the way we carry out our every day work and household responsibilities. They have

offered us ease, pace and connectivity. With the exponential expansion of computing

technologies, these and new technological innovations shall continue to change and innovate

human lives in the future as well (Cairncross, 2003).




TECHNOLOGIES THAT CHANGE WORK BUSINESS AND LIVES

In the present context, there are several technological innovations that significantly

impact everyday lives. Some of these include:

Social networking platforms- Various social networking platforms such as

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace etc have a global reach with several million

registered users that are active. Websites such as Facebook and YouTube have successfully

replaced old organizations such as Microsoft and Yahoo. These social networking platforms

have been significant contributors in shrinking the world as people are able to connect and

communicate with anyone at a moment’s notice. Further, social networking websites possess

the power of influence cultures across nations. This is achievable with the help of photo and

video uploads; specially developed pages and having friends from different parts of the

world. These websites have enabled individuals to do job searches (with the help of

applications such as Branch out) and find their perspective life partners. Social networking

websites have heavily influenced the manner in which people (especially youngsters) spend

their time. The availability of numerous applications on these websites makes them extremely

addictive. Further, these websites have fairly influenced the field of advertising. Any

information uploaded on these websites can be delivered to the entire world within seconds.

No media before has proven to be more powerful than these websites. Also, it can be

predicted that these websites have not yet reached their complete potential and shall continue

to grow and influence people’s lives in the future (Garcia, 2007).

Handheld devices- Recent years have seen a massive shift of internet driven

applications from computers to handheld devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers,

PDA’s etc. This shift has been made possible by the implementation of Moore’s law which

provided us useful insights about multiplication of technology. The law predicted that




processing power of a computerized chip shall double every 18 months and cost of

technology shall be halved during the same time. Till date, this predicted geometrical pattern

of multiplication has held true for all technology. A good example to depict this pattern

would be the ‘iPhone’ which in 2009 had the same processing power and support as an

‘iMac’ in 2001. Handheld devices of today have not just changed technology but have also

changed the way we use it. They have enabled us to do several things on a mobile basis that

were previously not possible. Besides mobile phones, other handheld devices such as Apple’s

‘iPad’ and Amazon’s ‘Kindle’ have contributed significantly to the e-book market. These

devices have changed media consumption and dissemination. They have impacted the way

students gather and learn information and the way in which teachers conduct their research.

Overall, handheld devices have placed the power of internet in our hands. These devices are

capable of connecting to the internet and provide information access on the go. Mobile

information access has changed the face and pace of business. Information databases and e-

mails can be accessed from anywhere and responded to; video calls can be made and data can

be transferred. Thus, handheld devices have significantly contributed to a life that moves

incredibly fast (Garcia, 2007).

Cloud Computing- By enabling features such as remote computing power,

applications and storage, cloud computing is fast transforming the methods of information

delivery. Virtual data centres built by implementing the concept of cloud computing helps

companies such as Amazon, Google and many others to significantly cut costs, reduce power

consumption, reduce their foot print and adhere to environmental concerns. Applications that

have always required the support of in-house servers such as customer relationship

management, enterprise resource planning etc can now be moved to cloud hosted servers thus

reducing the physical clutter. In addition to changing the delivery of information, the concept

of cloud computing is now rising to become a platform. In other words, various applications




are being build that shall be able to work on the concept of cloud computing (just like various

applications work on windows or Macintosh). Further, consumers can find the

implementation of cloud computing in almost every aspect of their lives such as music,

applications, photos, videos etc. Looking at the rate of progression of this technology, it can

be predicted that the next decade might witness cloud based libraries (Garcia, 2007).

Virtual platforms- A variety of work practices collectively known by the name of

‘virtual work’ are changing the way work is carried out in organizations. Virtual technology

has enabled employees to utilize their laptops in order to stay connected even when on a

vacation or work in groups even when they belong to different time zones, companies or

offices. The technology has had a profound influence on gender equity in organizational

environments. Traditional work practices that required presence within organizational

boundaries led women to assume job responsibilities of lesser significance. With the help of

virtual technologies they are able to stay at home and cater to their job as well as household

responsibilities. Thus, women are now able to take up significant positions in organizations.

Further, virtual technology has helped organizations in enhancing productivity and helping

employees maintain their work life balance. Virtual technology offers the freedom to work

not just at the comfort of home but also when work productivity is the highest. The freedom

to work when most comfortable to, enables employees to produce better results and deliver

innovative solutions to traditional problems. Further, this helps enhance an employee’s work

life balance as employees are able to devote equal time to their job and families (Woolgar,

2006).

Wireless standards- Wireless communication standards have also been influencing

the quality of life and way business function. The 4G wireless standard is being developed

keeping in mind the required data transfer rate of future applications such as video chat,

multimedia messaging, mobile TV, digital video broadcasting and other likewise applications




that utilize video streaming. Further, the wireless standard is being designed to offer a data

transfer rate of at least 100 Mbit/s, seamless connectivity and a high quality of service

delivery. This standard shall offer businesses the ability to access information and

applications at the speed of lightning. Applications such as Flash-OFDM, WiMax, WiBro

and Ultra Mobile Broadband shall be extremely useful in allowing businesses to experience

speed, connectivity enrich lives.

Tri-gate transistor technology- This is a new technological innovation that has been

used by Intel to roll out the next generation of processers. With the help of this technology,

the processing power of computers has multiplied several folds. Business organizations with

the help of this technology shall be able to process large amounts of information with the help

of a single processor and also shall be able to do so much more accuracy. Business

organizations by employing this technology shall be able to significantly reduce energy

consumption of their devices and hence cut costs. At the consumer end, computers will be

able to process and load information at a much faster rate.

Virtual Reality- Once just a part of video games, the technology has come alive

today. Very first instance of its usage can be seen in eye lenses launched by Google. The

lenses have been designed to implement the usage of a 4 cell connection and derive

information from Google’s databases. This information shall be displayed on the lens in front

of the eye of the person wearing these glasses. As the person turn’s his head, he would

receive information on his surroundings from applications such as Google Maps, Google

Latitude etc. Being a Google product, it will also display advertisements. This technology in

the future shall change the entire outlook of business and everyday life. People and business

organizations shall be able to use virtual reality to connect with people, work in groups,

conduct meetings and transfer data. This technology is well capable of eliminating the need

for physical presence (Anon, 2012).




Self-Driving Cars- Few years ago, this technology could only be hypothesized.

Technological innovation however has enabled Google to turn it into a reality today.

Google’s self driving cars uses lasers, radars and cameras mounted on its roof to navigate

obstacles and operate on its own. These cars shall make lives significantly easier by

eliminating the need to have sound driving skills to travel from one place to another.

Additionally, these cars shall eliminate the need to read maps for finding directions as they

possess the ability to derive directions from Google maps and self navigate their pathway

(Anon, 2012).

Medical technologies- during the last few years, medical technologies have also

grown sophisticatedly and vastly just as computer technologies and are available in much

smaller forms (even in the form of portable devices). Currently, nano-bots define the

benchmark of medical advancements. These technological advancements have not only

helped in reducing the size of medical equipment but have also helped in curing several

human body ailments. In the present day we have video games and wheelchairs that are mind

controlled. Medical software can perform brain scans and tell an individual what exactly he

or she is thinking at present. Medical tools can also predict an individual’s course of action

before he actually undertakes it.

Open source platforms- Technology has enabled the availability of various open

source platforms such as Linux. These platforms offer great speed, security and can be

customized according to the personal business needs. Source code of these platforms can be

modified to align with business needs and offer the required flexibility.




CONCLUSION

Technology is an integral part of our lives and constant technological innovations

significantly impact every aspect of our life (personal or business related). They not only

change the way we carry out our day to day activities but also impact the pace with which we

live our lives, the way we spend our time and the mode of communication that we prefer.

Every aspect of our life tremendously depends on technology and it shall continue to strongly

influence our lives.




REFERENCES

Anon. (2012). Technology: Gadgets, Computers, Mobile and Electronics, viewed 11 May

2012 www.techpart.net

Cairncross, F. (2003). How Technological revolution is changing our lives. Journal of

Technological Innovation, 32(1), 56-78

Damanpour, F. (2008). The adoption of Technological innovations. Journal of Management ,

32(5), 111-132

Garcia, R. (2007). A critical look at technological innovation. Journal of Product Innovation

and Management , 19(2), 110-132

Katz, J. (2004). Domestic Technological Innovations. Journal of Developmental Economics,

23(1), 234-245

Woolgar, S. (2006). Virtual Society?: Technology, cyber bole, reality, Journal of Science and

Technology, 54(5), 78-99

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