The Promise of our Future in Technology

 

What is the promise of our future in technology? How will it impact you?

I bought a new HP Stream 8 tablet at the Microsoft store two weeks ago, and have been a part of the Windows Insider program for Windows 10 since November 2014. These two technologies demonstrate incredible advances in technology when compared to my youth.

So as technology continues to advance in an exponential way, what is the promise of our future with this technology? We know about the medical and scientific advancements, as they are in the news daily. But what about our daily lives and the way we typically use our technology such as email, television, phone and personal computers?

The photograph shows both my dilemma and delight with technology. Taken at my favorite writing location, the local Barnes & Noble bookstore, it shows my newest story entitled “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” as well as three different devices which are operated by the Microsoft Windows platform.

The first device is a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which is a combination tablet/laptop computer. The second device is my new HP Stream 8 tablet with an 8” touch screen. The third device is my phone, a Lumia 928 running Windows 8.1. I can use any and all of these devices to pursue my writing and access the files on my local and cloud storage site.

This is the crux of Microsoft’s internet of things known as “IoT.” Depending upon circumstances, I can choose whatever device that fits the moment. When in a meeting, researching or in a bible study, I can use my HP Tablet which has a sim card to connect to the “cloud” (internet) using T-Mobile. This is easier than using my phone because the screen is larger. However, when I am in a place where I don’t want to carry a larger device, I can use my phone.

A video which I watched recently also presents the potential of technology in a slightly different way. This video was created and presented by Caterpillar, the world wide heavy equipment manufacturer. It is a fascinating video about the mechanization of a large iron mine in Western Australia. The six trucks used to haul ore from the mine are all driverless. They use a series of technology to guide these huge haul trucks safely from being loaded to dumping the ore. The demonstration of this technology is both fascinating and a little less than amazing. To see driverless, multi-ton trucks with tires larger than a normal automobile navigating the terrain of an open mining pit is riveting.

However, along with the promise of this future technology there is also downside. This downside will directly impact you, but how?

Using the Australian mine example, I estimated the loss of jobs due to driverless trucks. Assuming three shifts and six trucks, at least 18 to 25 drivers will not be needed. This may not sound like many people but automate the 100 largest mines around the globe where large haul trucks are used and the number quickly escalates to the hundreds if not thousands. Include the mid-level mines and the number grows very large indeed.

For example, the following shows the impact of technology on coal mining:

“In the United States, the increase in technology has significantly decreased the mining workforce from 335,000 coal miners working at 7,200 mines fifty years ago to 104,824 miners working in fewer than 2,000 mines today.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining)

But most of us are not going to drive a large haul truck in an open pit mine, you say. Well that may be true, but what about self-driving cars. If it can be done in a mine setting, where loading and dumping tolerances are in the range of centimeters, then it can be done on our streets and highways. There have been numerous articles about the development of self-driving cars in the last six months. The technology is coming, probably faster than we imagine.

How many taxicab drivers, long-haul and short haul delivery drivers will be impacted? What about the busses? If it can be done on land then it can be done in the air and on the sea. At least one mine in Australia has automated a series of long haul trains which travel across some of the most desolate and hottest terrain in the country. The technology is here today to make this a reality.

But automation and new technology can and has been very beneficial. Many of our scientific discoveries would not be possible without it. My EPub, EROS, Journey to an Asteroid, tells the story about a small automated space explorer making a journey of over a billion miles and ultimately landing on an asteroid 6 miles long by 1 mile wide. It was a precursor to the current space exploration technology. The 300 plus high resolution photographs are stunning and a tribute to the potential of technology. With automation and computing capability advancing at an exponential rate, so much more is possible today than in 2000 when this very special NASA/JPL mission was accomplished.

Many of these technology questions are posed in my EPub, World Collapse or New Eden, 101 Predictions about your World. This EPub presents predictions between 2005 and today, and examines these trends over time.

So are we ready for the changes that these new technologies will bring, from a social and economic standpoint? Is our “leadership,” discussing where we as a global society are headed in any meaningful way? The “R’s” and “D’s” in our government, which we elect to “guide and lead” us, with very few exceptions, seem not to even be aware of the potential impact, let alone lead the discussion about what our global society should look like. They typically “blather” on about things that in a larger sense are irrelevant to the coming future. As an example, “lost emails” have no relevance to this technological potential that is coming. It only has relevance to corporately owned media and politicians who are profiting off of the information distraction, in order to keep the general population as uninformed as possible.

It is possible, even probable that there may be massive “unemployment,” due to this technological revolution. These new “unemployed” are not people who don’t want to work or who are “lazy.” Most of them are people who are capable and intelligent, but who lack the skills to fit into this technologically changing world.

Yet our leaders are still railing against “government handouts” as something given to the “lazy” or “poor.” However, the elite (top 1%) realize these “handouts” are necessary to prevent riots or worse from a totally disenfranchised population. Instead of fostering the discussion about what our global society needs to become, and helping with resources to direct us toward those goals, they are content to allow governments to continue the “handouts.” It is easier for the corporate/government oligarchs to have “slaves” than to truly innovate, lead and progress. This is the reason the middle class is shrinking around the world.

For example, watch as the presidential campaigns heat up in the United States. Regardless of the “R” or “D” candidate, if you really analyze the discussion, you will conclude there is only one party with two factions (liberal and conservative). This is not the way to progress in a technologically advancing world. Remember this when you are evaluating the choices you have, whether it is the government officials you are electing or the job/career choices you are making.

Should we become “Luddites” and pull back from or destroy the technology? That would not solve the challenge we face. The only answer is to change the way we think about our “leadership”, our society and the people around the world. We need a different vision of what is possible and how to get there.

So as you can see, the potential of technology is fantastic. I can use multiple devices to create, present and communicate my ideas. Our technology is beginning to impact in a major way how we live in our homes, how we work, how we travel and how the goods we use every day are made. This trend will continue at an accelerating pace. The promise of technology is great but, sadly, without leadership, innovation and direction the curse may be greater than the blessing, in the short term.

Sincerely,

H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
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