This paper looks at the existing technology and how with time they have or will impact on the way people do their daily activities. IT has been implemented in many sectors of the economy. Because of the internet and other sources of information there are massive applications and technologies that can be acquired and implemented. Some of the technologies that will be researched in this paper include the existing communication technology, simulation of the real world, QR readers, cloud computing, mobile computing, social media and computer network. There has been IT technological advancement in specific areas such as the medical field, military, education, family, transport among other areas (Fichman, 2004).
Several decades back communication was only possible through sending of letters commonly referred to as land mail. This was followed by the innovation of the telephone by Graham Bell. The cell phone has been a landmark innovation in the information communication technology. The field communication has changed ever since the cell phone innovation. The issues of taking photograph one had to go to the studio but current cell phones have lens built-in and can take such photos with ease. The MP3 players and even high motion picture capabilities are incorporated into the cell phones. Cell phones referred to as ‘smart phones’ have the ability for users to add install applications just like in a personal computer. There are more advances in network and wireless communication when it comes to data sharing.
Visual information gratification is the new trend in information communication where users are no longer required to search in information on the engine. The hand-held devices such as smart phones will give real time information for the users who are on the move. The devices will enable users just to point at a particular object and the device searches for the details of the particular object. It is going to be possible to know things people do not know just in real time. The future trend in IT technology will be about instant visual information gratification. Currently we are able to search details about an object using textual information but devices that enable such of information through objects and people will be designed in the future.
The QR code technologies are a 2 dimensional barcode which enable devices to read a code that has multiple data, URL links, address and texts. The only thing needed for one to access information from the QR is a smart phone with the QR reader. The phone uses its camera to direct the users to the pieces of information which online. Bar code readers have limited capabilities in terms of storage of the items but the QR has the ability to store large amount of information because the information is stored in both directions horizontally and vertically. Currently QR technology is not popular with many users but this trend is bound to change after common users will realize that they can get more information using this technique.
Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that started 30 years. It refers to the addition of a computer-assisted contextual layer of information on the real world. This has resulted into technologies such as virtual reality. Virtual reality has many applications in the world raging from manufacturing, piloting to space science.
Augmented reality (AR)
The advent of increased bandwidth and smart devices such as smart phones has accelerated the adoption of this technology (Fichman, 2004). There are many AR web browser applications and very useful gadgets which are being used in the graphics and visualization technologies in the development of landscape technology. AR is a technology that can be used in learning because of its high visual and highly interactive capabilities. It can be used to simulate real world easily.
Cloud computing is a concept were IT applications and hardware devices being posted or stored over the internet instead of being owned and operated locally. There are many types of cloud computing such as private cloud, public cloud, hybrid clouds, open cloud, storage cloud, agile infrastructure and real-time infrastructure. Cloud computing is a new IT approach in the effort of reducing IT infrastructure that an organization need in order to operate. There are several services that an organization can get from cloud computing. Software as a service SaaS is one of the benefits or services provided by cloud computing. This means that an organization can access software applications without installing them on their local machines (Bengisu & Nekhili, 2006). Hardware as a Service HaaS is also another form of cloud computing where an organization that do not have required software application can access the ‘cloud’ and have their tasks process at that level then just have the end results on the local machines.
Virtualization is an IT technology which enables an organization to install multiple iterations of one or more operating systems on a single powerful computing platform. Virtualization enables a single machine to run more than one operating systems and application programs. Many organizations are moving towards this technology to avoid the high cost of licensing operating system or installing operating system on every computer in an organization.
Mobile computing is another area of focus in the existing information technology. There has been a trend where the size of computing devices has become smaller. Mobile phones and hand held devices such as tablets and palmtops which have the combination of communication and computing power through wireless connection, Bluetooth, WiFi are being used not only by individual users but by organizations in conducting business. Wireless networks has facilitated users to be able to move around within a given area but are still connected to the internet. The emerging technologies such as 802.11 WiFi standards, 802.16 WiMAX and Long term Evolution standard (LTE) are the new network technologies that are being utilized by users.
Social media is an area that has impacted almost all sectors of economy. Traditional means of communication such as print media and broadcast are facing a bigger challenge because many people are depending on social media to get information (Lowe, Lomax & Polonkey, 1996). Online advertisement on social media has been effective and many people are coming up with a lot of applications to make it more complex.
Ethical issues concerned with the emerging technologies are many. There are technologies that seek to replace human beings or replicate their abilities. Replacing human beings is an ethical consideration. Privacy is another concern with most of the technologies, hand held devices will be able to share and access information from an organization. The issue of privacy is large and complex, when it comes to cloud computing privacy if information stored on the internet is also a concern. Technological addition on social media and cloud computing technology is also an ethical consideration. Inequality is also a concern especially if public services are going to be digitized. Those who do not have access or are not able to acquire a computer are disadvantaged.
References
Bengisu, M., & Nekhili, R. (2006). Forecasting emerging technologies with the aid of science and technology databases. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 73(7), 835-844.
Fichman, R. G. (2004). Going beyond the dominant paradigm for information technology innovation research: Emerging concepts and methods. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(8), 314-355.
Lowe, H. J., Lomax, E. C., & Polonkey, S. E. (1996). The World Wide Web: a review of an emerging Internet-based technology for the distribution of biomedical information. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 3(1), 1-14.
