Rhymes of History – Google Glasses
Six useful forces that drive
emerging technologies on a path of change are: evolutionary technologies,
rhymes of history, disruptive technologies, science fiction, increasing
returns, and Red Queens (Laureate Education, 2009). Kevin Kelly in his video
spoke about the Internet as only 5,000 days old, yet it has had a profound
impact on the world, bearing elements such as satellite images of the Earth,
laptops, wireless devices, making all that seemed impossible, possible (Kelly,
2007). I actually recalled life without
the Internet when I was a child living in Jamaica. The world seemed gigantic
and mysterious. Also, information was hard to come by. During those days, it
seemed as though only a few people knew how the world works, until the Internet
came into being and leveled the playing field where humanity has access to
endless information.
Yes indeed the future will be like the past, but with more
interesting technological gadgets (Laureate
Education, 2009). A
fine example, of this is the use of walkie talkies in the past which were
“cool” but not as interesting as smart phones in this era. Smart phones
themselves are on an evolutionary path. Thus, an example of the technology
which represents a rhyme in history is Google’s glasses. Google’s glasses can
be described as hands-free smart phones. See the following video for Google
glasses’ features:
Rhyme of History
The
Google glasses rekindle the 1960s psychedelic and surrealism art movements. Users
walk around in a virtual world, going beyond what ordinary humans see. See the
following link for more information on Google glasses based on users’
experiences: https://www.google.com/glass/start/explorer-stories/
Kelly pondered on what the next 5,000 days will be like
and concluded that there will be embodiment, restructuring and codependency on
the Internet. All these elements are reflected in Google glasses. Also, the
single global machine that Kelly spoke about can be seen as Siri in the future.
He also spoke about different kinds of dimensions which reminds me of the
Google glasses and how users seem to enter a new dimension once they put them
on. Many of us are already heavily depended on the Internet. I know I am, and
being able to carry around your smart phone entirely hands free sounds like a
technology that might very well stay with us for a while (until it evolves into
something more powerful). My reliance on
the Internet and my smart phone might eventually influence me into purchasing a
pair of Google glasses. This is how depended I am on the Internets. I went away
on vacation and ended up renting a personal hotspot for the entire time that I
was gone.
References
Kelly, K. (2007). Kevin
Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the Web [Speech].
Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html
Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Emerging and future technology: Six
forces that drive emerging technologies. Baltimore,
MD: Author.
