The Disruptive Power of Second Life
The entire notion of a virtual world is something foreign to me even though my career centers on technology. Actually, I didn't know about Second Life until this class and from the onset deemed it as slightly disturbing due to my Biblical convictions and my interactions with people every day in which I observe their inability to decipher between what is real and what is imaginary. Anyhow, just my thoughts. Second Life is an example of a disruptive technology due to the fact the development of it emerged from virtually nothing and is viewed as a something uniquely seen as a replication of one’s life. Dr. Thornburg states in his video package that disruptive technologies “suddenly come on the scene and have way of changing our methods of thinking.” This particular technology was not the product of an evolutionary development but a new development to meet the needs and desires of those who seek to live in a virtual world. In my opinion, this is troubling because of the diminished amount of socialization our society receives. Unfortunately, we have all heard of cases when persons are harmed because someone who is really into gaming or some sort of artificial technology has no grasp of reality and how delicate life and life situations really are. In addition to this, many experts were surprised when the data suggested that people’s daily routines and responsibilities were altered due to obsessive behaviors similar to users of applications such as FaceBook, Twitter and Instragram. Experts have also stated that some people admittedly are aware that they spend hours at a time immersing themselves in this virtual world living a life and developing relationships with others that do not match their reality experience. The sustainability of Second Life is reliant on on the users. From what I have learned about this technology many are interested to a certain degree. As a result, I'm pretty leery of this application and if it will ever truly create integration of the real world in the virtual world. Overall, I see this as potentially an additional tool that can ramp up social networking for gaming, education and other beneficial tasks. But as mentioned earlier in this blog, the issue that is the most disconcerting is the fact this technology fosters social isolation. If used correctly, I definitely feel some of the unique benefits that Second Life could offer are solid, like the personal avatars and lecture halls/discussions, but I hesitate to fully endorse this technology on the basis of what it can destroy on the social landscape of our society. References: Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Emerging and future technology: Disruptive technologies. Baltimore, MD: Author. Rhymes of History Technology Blog (Module 3)
In the words of Dr. Thornburg (2008), a “new technology is a fresh emergence of the impact felt many years before from another technology.” As a result, several factors influence the emergence of new technologies, with no single element being completely ample to expound on how or why one technology is accepted and others are not. Thornburg (2008) also states that there exist many influences or “forces” that are catalyst in the emergence of new technology. This emergence to adoption progression does not happen overnight, but is a series of steps that lead to this result. There exist legitimate root causes that assist in the emergence of a new technology. The key principles of evolution were stated as “numerous forces that cause technology to develop as they go through an evolutionary process as they continue to change (Thornburg, 2008).” Keep in mind, there are additional forces that cause new technology to emerge that is probably sustainable and reliable enough to predict future trends. In addition to the previous comments, Thornburg’s assertions about the rhyme of history theory hinge on a great point in that new technology definitely seek to take the place of one or more things used in the past. Dr. Thornburg (2008) described a rhyme in history as an affect or effort of a new development that “rekindles something from the past.” One particular technology that comes to mind as it pertains to the concept of rhyme of history is simply the telephone. As you are fully aware, communications has always been an integral part of human interaction even in the times when smoke, drums and other apparatus were used to convey a message. Regardless of the scenario, we have always been able to communicate in some form or fashion based on what we have available to do so. The telephone or better yet our new mobile devices have definitely made it easier to communicate with others while also expanding the boundaries in which we can communicate via social networking. However, with the new and still emerging technology, it is even easier to communicate across the globe with others in an instantaneous and efficient manner. Here is a list of technologies that are on the evolutionary path that we all have in some way, shape or form have impacted our lives and the way we do things in today’s society. iPhone The occasion was held on Jan. 9th during the 2007 Macworld convention in San Francisco; the now-deceased Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs uncovered a original product that Apple had been emerging for almost three years. Presenting the electronic device as enhanced wide-screen iPod with touch controls, a mobile phone and an Internet communications device, Jobs assured the crowd that the revolutionary iPhone would “reinvent the phone,” to the elation of the crowd. During this historic presentation, Jobs made light of the budding class of smartphones that could make calls, connect to the Internet and receive email but seemed difficult to use due to their unique configuration of the keyboards which often where not easy to access and use. Even during the demonstrations, Jobs was described as showing off the various features of the iPhone. For instance, functions as simple as sliding the bar to unlock the iPhone or scrolling through genres in the music function drew rave reviews from the spectators. From this point, the rest was “history”. These days, the iPhone is simply considered to have rewritten the entire smartphone industry and further propelled Apple to become one of the most prized companies in the entire world. Seven generations later, iPhone is starting to experience a leveling off in the marketplace due to the influence in the market because of less-expensive devices from competitors like Samsung, LG and Motorola which are all owned by Google. Despite this, the Apple iPhone still rules 53 percent of the smartphone market. The iPhone is the top-selling phone of all time in the U.S., Japan and other countries. References: Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Evolutionary technologies, featuring Dr. David Thornburg. Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Six forces that drive emerging technology, featuring Dr. David Thornburg. Neal, Ryan. "Apple IPhone to IPhone 6: The 7-Year Evolution Of A Game-Changing Smartphone." International Business Times 1 Jan. 2014. Print. The History of Communication - http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa93 Telephone History - http://www.telephonymuseum.com/telephone%20history.htm |
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