The Future Is Here !!
Recently, the concluding pages of a local weekly carried an article on what the world would be like without all the technology we see around us. The advancement of science has had such a deep impact on our lives that a question about the absence of technology and its effects simply seems absurd. Imagine life without mobile phones, computers, iPods, camcorders, or those high rise buildings that stretch across the horizon or even the cool vehicles that you see on the roads! It is a scenario we can’t even begin to contemplate. Because we learn about various scientific developments as a part of our syllabus, any new technological development seems simple, and we are no longer amazed by them. We take even the most astounding breakthroughs for granted.
Generations ago, people would have laughed at the concept of mobile phone technology or the development of a common information source or even going to space or landing on the moon.
However, today’s generation does not even bat it’s eyelids at such futuristic concepts when there is a tough competition among various countries for space exploration missions, and when every other day, they come across newspaper reports that people are buying land on the moon or on mars.
The growth of technology has, indeed, become o sophisticated that nothing seems to be impossible. Yet, one stops to listen when one hears tat science is being used to bring the dead back to life, or when shopping is going to be so simple that all you need to do is to pull the things you need off the shelf and walk out of the store, or that your smart ridge know what you have run out of, and orders it directly from the supermarket it is hooked up to. Would you be surprised to know that integrated technology is used not just in the electronics that you use but also in the clothes you wear?
Well, this may raise many eye brows, but it’s true. It may not be long before you start singing a contract for immortality, well, at heavy price of course!
It has been more than three decades since its invention and the functioning of a barcode still puzzles and amazes people. With its first use on a package of Wrigley’s gum, bar codes actually revolutionized the complete shopping experience of saving time and making product identity a whole lot easier. Although it took a while to reach other countries, it is not going to be long when barcodes are replaced by better means of identification tags called RFIDs.
RFIDs are Radio Frequency Identification tags that do more than just identification. Imaging walking into your favorite mall, pulling out the things on your list, and just walking out of the mall while your bills and payments are automatically updated from your account! Yes, no long queues, no frantic searches for vacant counters and there is no need to wait wile each and every item is scanned. Dump what you want into your shopping cart and just walk out!
RFIDs, also known as smart labels carry an integrated electronic system smaller than the size of a sim card that respond to the electric signals of the reader notifying your purchase, time and date of purchase and other product details. The details of the product purchase will be notified to your bank, which cuts the amount from your account.
So, what makes it different from normal bar codes? The tags give the physical location of the item wherever it is. Unlike barcodes, these tags can be identified collectively by the readers, and they keep rack of the products if such readers are present wherever you go, even after its purchase. Yes, the product will be tracked right from its production to its purchase, use and disposal.
Technology does not end there. The last place where you would expect a micro-processor accompanied by some memory would be the soles of your shoes. Well, that is exactly what Adidas did by introducing the new adidas 1 a few months ago. The sole of each shoe carries a sensor connected to a microprocessor which takes a set of readings from the wearer’s foot, and correspondingly adjusts the amount of cushioning to the foot position. If anyone is so choosy about cushioning their feet even inside shoes then this is the right product. It costs 250$ and requires a new set of batteries every 100 hours.
There are no boundaries to scientific development, and the world has to brace itself for more mind-blowing inventions. Even while concepts of robots are still under progress. But as they say too much of anything is bad. It is yet to be seen whether these inventions would later prove to be harmful to man. Will the central themes of movies like I, Robot and the matrix trilogy have any significance in the future?
Whatever the implications behind these wonders, we have a lot to look forward to, and it is definitely going to be even more amazing than we can ever imagine.
Generations ago, people would have laughed at the concept of mobile phone technology or the development of a common information source or even going to space or landing on the moon.
However, today’s generation does not even bat it’s eyelids at such futuristic concepts when there is a tough competition among various countries for space exploration missions, and when every other day, they come across newspaper reports that people are buying land on the moon or on mars.
The growth of technology has, indeed, become o sophisticated that nothing seems to be impossible. Yet, one stops to listen when one hears tat science is being used to bring the dead back to life, or when shopping is going to be so simple that all you need to do is to pull the things you need off the shelf and walk out of the store, or that your smart ridge know what you have run out of, and orders it directly from the supermarket it is hooked up to. Would you be surprised to know that integrated technology is used not just in the electronics that you use but also in the clothes you wear?
Well, this may raise many eye brows, but it’s true. It may not be long before you start singing a contract for immortality, well, at heavy price of course!
It has been more than three decades since its invention and the functioning of a barcode still puzzles and amazes people. With its first use on a package of Wrigley’s gum, bar codes actually revolutionized the complete shopping experience of saving time and making product identity a whole lot easier. Although it took a while to reach other countries, it is not going to be long when barcodes are replaced by better means of identification tags called RFIDs.
RFIDs are Radio Frequency Identification tags that do more than just identification. Imaging walking into your favorite mall, pulling out the things on your list, and just walking out of the mall while your bills and payments are automatically updated from your account! Yes, no long queues, no frantic searches for vacant counters and there is no need to wait wile each and every item is scanned. Dump what you want into your shopping cart and just walk out!
RFIDs, also known as smart labels carry an integrated electronic system smaller than the size of a sim card that respond to the electric signals of the reader notifying your purchase, time and date of purchase and other product details. The details of the product purchase will be notified to your bank, which cuts the amount from your account.
So, what makes it different from normal bar codes? The tags give the physical location of the item wherever it is. Unlike barcodes, these tags can be identified collectively by the readers, and they keep rack of the products if such readers are present wherever you go, even after its purchase. Yes, the product will be tracked right from its production to its purchase, use and disposal.
Technology does not end there. The last place where you would expect a micro-processor accompanied by some memory would be the soles of your shoes. Well, that is exactly what Adidas did by introducing the new adidas 1 a few months ago. The sole of each shoe carries a sensor connected to a microprocessor which takes a set of readings from the wearer’s foot, and correspondingly adjusts the amount of cushioning to the foot position. If anyone is so choosy about cushioning their feet even inside shoes then this is the right product. It costs 250$ and requires a new set of batteries every 100 hours.
There are no boundaries to scientific development, and the world has to brace itself for more mind-blowing inventions. Even while concepts of robots are still under progress. But as they say too much of anything is bad. It is yet to be seen whether these inventions would later prove to be harmful to man. Will the central themes of movies like I, Robot and the matrix trilogy have any significance in the future?
Whatever the implications behind these wonders, we have a lot to look forward to, and it is definitely going to be even more amazing than we can ever imagine.
1 Comments:
Dude ... hear this!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/08/crime.rapper.reut/index.html
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