A Decade in Technology
The past decade has been amazing technology wise. We have seen so many new innovations in communication, computing and accessing media over the past ten years. I definitely think the 2000s will go down as the start of the information age.
Over the past ten years we've seen high definition TV, LCDs, DVD, BluRay, video on demand, digital video recorders and streaming video change the way we watch our TV. The idea of a VCR or VHS tapes has completely become irrelevant since we can now records shows with DVRs and watch movies with DVDs and BluRays. We are no longer watching TV on square tube TVs either as almost everyone now has made the move to HDTVs.
We are also no longer listening to tapes or CDs. We now have iTunes and MP3s to listen to music and podcasts. We started with Napster to listen to music free and ended up with services like iTunes and Zune Marketplace to purchase music. No one carries a Dicsman anymore, instead it's ipods and other mp3 players.
I remember buying my first cell phone in 1999 with regional coverage, roaming fees and all it could do was make calls and send texts. Now phones are practically replacements for computers with web browsers, apps and built in tools to help you be keep up with your friends. For some the past decade means their home phone service is no longer provided by the phone company. We now have voice over IP which allows us to not be locked into the phone company for service. We also have voice messaging so we are no longer reliant on answering machines.
At the beginning of the decade the communicating over the internet meant email and chat rooms. Now we have seen the rise of web 2.0 with social networking sites like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We now read our new online instead of on a news paper or by watching the evening news. Digital media may not have completely taken over but in another ten years print will be dead.
We have also seen the rise of online stores like Amazon.com and retail stores expanding their presence with their own online stores. We have seen auction sites like eBay and Craig's List emerge as sites people can resell items. Shopping has really been changed over the past ten years by the maturing of the internet.
It will be very fascinating to see what new technologies will emerge in the next decade. Will we see the tablet make a roaring comeback to replace laptops? What will we see next out of cellphones? Will we even use desktop pcs in ten years or will they be replaced with something we can dock and un-dock as needed.
I am constantly amazed and impressed by your expositary writing skills. You express yourself so well, how about a column in a newspaper? ( Before the print is gone) By the way, us oldtimers do enjoy reading the daily print.
I think your generation is the only ones still reading newspapers and watching the evening national news. I think more and more people will get their news online and from cable news shows. East coast news is out of touch with the majority on America. I'd like to see a Chicago or Dallas national news crew.
As info., I already read the news on the internet, google wi.rr and bing.
Plus some cable news. It all adds up to fear.