Whatever data was on paper went digital and then metaphorically to the cloud and now the cloud has wings. Although one can argue that essentially nothing has changed in digital domain accept the evolution of ways to access and present the data.
The big bang that was iPhone to the mobile universe and the follow up tremor that is iPad has turned the mobility industry on its head. Within few months, nation’s fastest network became the nation’s most condemned due to dropped calls and customer complaints. The truth of the matter is telecom networks of the old were not designed for everyone to be on them at the same time, they are multiplexed in hopes of maximizing utilization. The proliferation of information hungry data guzzlers have put, well, pressure on the infrastructure. But it has been a good pressure, because we were thinking 4G sometimes in 2015 and here we are in 2011 seemingly in a 4G competition; even few billion dollars worth of network upgrades merit the waiting period of some dropped calls, or maybe not.
According to Thomas Kuhn scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but is something of a paradigm shift in our perception. Since I have not grown any wings yet, I would agree with him. Human actions and interactions are limited to a few permutations or extensions of their instincts, but the ways and means to approaching those combinations change according to our "gadgets" or scientific innovation. The internet revolution was big, it was bigger than hulk exploding in his trousers, but this mobile giant I feel is even bigger. Internet allowed access, and mobile is a promise of omnipresent access, give and take few black spots. Thanks to smartphones and smarter people, I can check the shrinking dollars in my checking, or the bulging credit when I want, or pay through my phone and make purchases at a whim (with discount offers off course), check if I can get a cheaper/better deal, see if my house is still standing, or my appliances are consuming energy when they are not supposed to, enter my abode by wave of my hands(the device in my hand that is), keep track of all my friends and then be “followed” in return, basically be connected, be really really connected to everything, everywhere.
The big bang that was iPhone to the mobile universe and the follow up tremor that is iPad has turned the mobility industry on its head. Within few months, nation’s fastest network became the nation’s most condemned due to dropped calls and customer complaints. The truth of the matter is telecom networks of the old were not designed for everyone to be on them at the same time, they are multiplexed in hopes of maximizing utilization. The proliferation of information hungry data guzzlers have put, well, pressure on the infrastructure. But it has been a good pressure, because we were thinking 4G sometimes in 2015 and here we are in 2011 seemingly in a 4G competition; even few billion dollars worth of network upgrades merit the waiting period of some dropped calls, or maybe not.
According to Thomas Kuhn scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but is something of a paradigm shift in our perception. Since I have not grown any wings yet, I would agree with him. Human actions and interactions are limited to a few permutations or extensions of their instincts, but the ways and means to approaching those combinations change according to our "gadgets" or scientific innovation. The internet revolution was big, it was bigger than hulk exploding in his trousers, but this mobile giant I feel is even bigger. Internet allowed access, and mobile is a promise of omnipresent access, give and take few black spots. Thanks to smartphones and smarter people, I can check the shrinking dollars in my checking, or the bulging credit when I want, or pay through my phone and make purchases at a whim (with discount offers off course), check if I can get a cheaper/better deal, see if my house is still standing, or my appliances are consuming energy when they are not supposed to, enter my abode by wave of my hands(the device in my hand that is), keep track of all my friends and then be “followed” in return, basically be connected, be really really connected to everything, everywhere.
This torrent of data is great if it makes for an efficient life forming a tightly knit symbiotic relation of every being and every resource through instant information to each “node”, preserving/nurturing the life after us not the "life after". So far human advancement has come at a cost to the sustenance of the planet but the jury is still out as the planet continues to breathe and the water has not yet risen to Al Gore levels. Hopefully, the ease of use fostered by technology will not be synonymous with a lethargy of mind and will result in better “connection” to all life.
