Module 4 Disruptive Technologies

Society is always looking the get the best “bang for their bucks”; therefore technological innovations stands at the forefront of delivering the “bang”. Shiny new technologies always make the technology you just purchased last week, dull and boring. These disruptive technologies offer new enhancements to a product while in some cases reducing the cost to attract new and existing cliental. Technology is following in the footsteps of fashion trends. In 1985 the first version of the Air Jordan shoes hit the market and sold millions. One year later the Air Jordan 2 hit the market and no mater if you had a brand new pair of the first Air Jordan shoes, you actually had the “old” Jordans. This shoe trend continued every year for over two decades, and although this example is not technology based, it is a good representation of the displacement theory in general. Play Station would be a good technological example of a disruptive technology. As this innovation enters its third conception of the gaming system, its feature functionality improves with every release of the product.

Second Life is a new concept but the technology is not at the point of reaching critical mass. This innovation lives predominantly in a “techie” world. Most techie’s are introverts; therefore they lack the ability to socialize face to face with society. To the techie population, second life would be a disruptive technology to more recent social networking technologies (i.e. Facebook and Twitter). As for the rest of society, getting accustom to non face to face interaction through social networking is now becoming a way of life. Second Life is a trend that would have to eventually grow on society instead of taking over or being considered disruptive. So in the next 10 years I would think that you would find more people interested and exploring this concept rather than it replacing an existing technology.

Module 3 - Rhymes of History (Photographs)

The exponential growth and advancement in technology has accelerated society’s methods of viewing still images. Photographs illuminate the concept of everyday life, which in turn casts light on the significance of consumer goods, domestic comfort, the aspirations of men, women, and children, in short the banality of everyday life which echoed their mentalities and how they viewed the world (Januarius, 2008). We have moved from an age of old table cameras of the 1800’s, to the evolution of the point and shoot cameras developed in the 1970’s, to now digital cameras which eliminated the need for film and takes crystal clear photos that are stored on a memory card. Portraits on paper are virtually becoming a thing of the past. Instead of keeping photos of your family in a wallet or purse, society now carries photos of there loved ones in their phone. Framed still shots are being replaced by digital images that change every few seconds. Technology has paved the way for society to “capture the moment” any place at any time.

As we explore affects or impacts of this technology as it relates to Thornburg’s concept of rhymes of history, the concept of photographs rekindles the ancient carvings of images found in caves or Egyptian pyramids. The idea of documenting history via images is something that society has accomplished for hundreds of years. Technology is only playing a part as it relates to the means in which we recording history via imagery.


References

Januarius, J. (2008). Picturing the Everyday Life of Limburg Miners: Photographs as a Historical Source. International Review of Social History, 53(2), 293-312. doi:10.1017/S0020859008003453

Thornburg, D. (Producer). (nd). Rhymes of History. [Video Podcast]. Laureate Education, Inc.