Recently, I have been feeling like the world of technology is speeding up faster than ever, and that we as consumers need to increase our pace to avoid getting swept away!
So this time last year no-one except the most hardcore tech-lover (yes, I mean the kind who queued up for 36 hours when the phone was launched) knew what an iPhone application was. Now you can get snowglobes to put on your iphone screen which actually shake when the phone is shaken, and photos of fish and chips you can shake salt and vinegar on to…and I am sure many many more applications with an actual purpose as well as the more silly ones that look great and make your mind boggle -The now banned $999 application ’I Am Rich’ which did nothing but confirm the status and wealth of the user with a nice red picture on the screen being one example!
The speed at which these things become a part of everyone’s lives is what consistently shocks me time and time again. Being merely a wannabe techie person, ie someone who admires these things from afar but is to stingy to get involved, I am constantly amazed at the things I see people playing with when I sit behind them on the bus. For the first time in a while, I get the feeling things are developing much faster than I can keep up with. Only last week I was introduced to Second Sight – and was rendered speechless by it for about ten minutes. Suitable for any phone with a video camera, after downloading a free application the camera is held over a coded square looking a bit like a mosaic. The camera then recognises the code, and pictures, animated characters, video and sound clips all come to life on the screen of your phone. The rattlesnake I was shown, for example, would recoil and spit if the camera was help too close the the coded square, and the animated character would rotate as you rotated the code.
It is at times like these, I thought to myself, that one should accept what is in front of you, marvel at it, and spread the word -because I have realised that just because you don’t understand it does not mean you shouldn’t revel in it. The annual phone upgrade is a chance to push it as far as you can for another year, and by your next upgrade you’ll wonder how you got by without all that new technology. The technological revolution is a never ending road of launch, development, launch, and development, and it is all too easy to get left behind, so I am telling all my friends about Second Sight, and showing them on my phone despite having absolutely no idea how it works, but that’s not important because they all love it too. So my message is to those afraid of change - don’t be afraid of the onslaught – embrace it!