SLP 3 TECHNOLOGY

Lesson 13: New tech - pros and cons, what ifs

Teacher: Lidia Están

Sources:
AWECOMM : https://awecomm.com/Blog/2018/01/03/the-pace-of-technology-change-whats-up-with-that/
NOTED: https://www.noted.co.nz/tech/the-rate-of-technological-change-is-now-exceeding-our-ability-to-adapt/
WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_adoption_life_cycle

The Pace of Technology Change is exponential

If the average car had advanced as quickly as the computer over the last 35
years, cars would get 3,666,652 miles per gallon and cost less than $5,000 today! And
if you were to build an iPhone using the technology available in 1991, it would set
you back $3.56 million, rather than the $1,000 MSRP of the iPhone X today.

The realm of technology is advancing so quickly because of what futurist and author
Ray Kurzweil termed the ‘Law of Accelerating Returns’. Essentially, it states that
new technology leads to even newer technology in a building-block fashion: new
advances lay the groundwork to build even more advances, allowing technology to
evolve faster and faster over time. Since it’s both lucrative and in many ways self-
perpetuating, it’s a trend that certainly won’t slow down anytime soon.

The technology adoption lifecycle is a sociological model that describes the adoption
or acceptance of a new product or innovation, according to the demographic and
psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups. The model indicates that the
first group of people to use a new product is called "innovators", followed by "early
adopters". Next come the early majority and late majority, and the last group to
eventually adopt a product are called "Laggards" (“luddites” in the UK) or
"phobics." A phobic may only use a cloud service when it is the only remaining
method of performing a required task, but without an in-depth technical knowledge of
how to use the service.

Wenger, White and Smith, in their book ‘Digital habitats: Stewarding technology for
communities’, talk of technology stewards: people with sufficient understanding of
the technology available and the technological needs of a community to steward the
community through the technology adoption process. People's behaviours are
influenced by their peers and how widespread they think a particular action is.

Does technological change rate exceed our adaptability?

The decade since I took some videos on a Handycam has gone by in a blur of
exponential change. I’d forgotten just how important 2007 was. Alongside the iPhone,
2007 also saw the debut of Amazon’s Kindle, which revolutionised e-book sales, and
Google’s Android operating system, now running the majority of the world’s
smartphones. It was the year when microblogging site Twitter was spun off on its
own platform and Airbnb was conceived. GitHub, the go-to site for open-source

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software projects, was launched; and Change.org, which has powered massive
petitions for all sorts of social and political issues, went live. Development started on
IBM’s Watson supercomputer, which combined machine learning and artificial
intelligence for an incredibly powerful new form of deep analytics. The year saw a
massive drop in the cost of DNA sequencing due to the introduction of new
technology, and the start of exponential growth in uptake of clean-energy
technologies, such as solar panels.

Intel in 2007 unveiled its “high-k” (Hi-k) transistor technology that ensured the
continuation of Moore’s Law – which predicts that the number of transistors on a
microchip roughly doubles every two years. That fuelled the upward march in
computing power. All of these things – and Facebook’s move the previous September
to open its social network to anyone aged 13 and older, made 2007 a “pivotal junction
in the history of technology and the world”, argues Thomas Friedman’s in his book
‘Thank You for Being Late’.

We are now living through the “age of accelerations” underpinned by those

converging technological advances put in motion a decade ago. The pace of change
(speed) and rate of change (exponential) are in many cases exceeding our capacity to
cope with change.

How to Keep Up
So, with the technological landscape constantly shifting and evolving around us,
how are you and your business keeping up? Some pieces of advice:

 Attend industry events to learn about what’s on the horizon in your field
 Try new technologies so you can learn what works and what doesn’t work for
your business (and use free trials when available!).
 Find a “tech buddy” who always seems to be up on the latest tech news and
capabilities; see what new products and services they’re excited about
 Talk to your customers. They are undoubtedly being approached by
competitors that claim that have the next “big thing”.
 Work with a trusted IT partner or build a highly capable IT department with
team members who understand your business, their role in it, and how new
technology could be integrated to better your processes.

GLOSSARY

pace = ritmo
miles = millas = 1,609.344 metres
gallon = 3.785411784 litres (US) / 4.54609 litres (UK)
set somebody back = salirle por (cost)
realm = “reino”, esfera, campo
return = rendimiento
lay the groundwork = pone la base

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 trend = tendencia
laggard = rezagado / luddite = anti-industrial
steward = administrador, representante
peers = “pares”, iguales, miembros de un grupo
widespread = extender
blur = borrón
to spin off = derivar, segregarse
unveiled = desvelar
upward = ascendente
pivotal = crucial
underpinned = apuntalado, respaldado
shifting = desplazándose
buddy = amiguete

FILL THE GAPS with words from the glossary:

1) Sergio is my best _________________ and helps me with my IT issues.

2) They say that a new computer is always a good ______________ on investment.

3) When will Apple ___________________ their new iPhone?

4) I remember when the CD’s become the new ____________.

5) Poor people can seldom be technology ________________.

6) Some people used to mock mobile phone users, until all their ___________ had
one.

7) The use of smartphones is absolutely ________________ in the western world.

8) How many _____________ are 100 litres?

9) Artificial Intelligence lays________________ for an even faster _____________ in

technological change.

10) I don’t mind not having the latest devices and being called a ______________ as
long as it doesn’t affect the quality of my work.

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