As the excitement of our political conventions wind down, I turn my attention to an issue that is far more relevant to our daily lives and certainly more entertaining to me. Microsoft is rolling out its new Windows 10 Redstone Edition on August 2, 2016. It brings new capabilities and possibilities to computing and the internet. Along with the new software, new hardware is making an appearance. We are on the cusp of a variety of exciting new emerging technologies in both hardware and software.
We can get a glimpse of this technology by using the new Windows Hello functionality in Windows 10. This allows us to log in to our computers, phones and tablets with a finger print or facial recognition. Microsoft notes the following about this new technology.
“Windows Hello is a more personal way to sign in to your Windows 10 devices with just a look or a touch. You’ll get enterprise-grade security without having to type in a password.” -- Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17215/windows-10-what-is-hello
I have been using this technology since the July 29, 2015 release of the first Windows 10, and find it works very well. As a member of the “Windows Insider” program, I reviewed the evolving technology as for the last year or more. Microsoft continued development and the result is this August 2, 2016 release to manufacturing (RTM) software, known as Windows 10 – Redstone Edition.
The idea of signing into a computer without using the “time-honored” password is fascinating to me, especially as I get older. Microsoft noted that it wants to have this technology apply across platforms (Android, Apple and Windows) and across websites. If Microsoft has their way, you can use the same technology to sign into all the other websites you normally use a password login for (your bank, Amazon, Google, etc.), as you do your computer. Think of never having to remember a password again. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg with respect to technology.
Go back in time with me. Using bio-metrics such as facial recognition, voice recognition, iris recognition and finger print recognition has been the stuff of science fiction over my lifetime and through out the 20th century. Conversing with a computer has been a goal for a long time. Examples of this technology have been immortalized on the movie and television screen.
“Since the 1950s, when artificial intelligence (AI) first got serious funding, media and industry hype has fueled the belief that someday there will be an entity such as Hal, the sentient computer in the classic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, or, more recently, the array of artificial in the computers and “Humanich” androids in the current TV show Extant.” – Speech Technology, Speech Technology in the IoT Era, Nancy Jamison, Winter 2015
Speech technology, now known as conversational technology or conversational computing, can also be seen in one of the most viewed movie and television series of all time – Star Trek, which has long been a favorite of mine. I have a hard time forgetting the scene in Star Trek VI – The Voyage Home, when Scotty {the Engineer] tries to use a computer at an industrial facility. The Starship Enterprise and crew have gone back in time to present day Earth. The Star Trek engineer tries to talk to an IBM computer, using the mouse, in a parody of the way he normally does on the ship, clearly, to no avail.
It is hard to conceive of the Internet of Things (IoT) and a connected world without the use of conversational technology. The scope of this technology is noted by Ms. Jamison:
“The Internet of Things (IoT), made up of everything from wearables to connected health and the connected home, has led hundreds to companies to work on and deliver products that automate tasks and use and generate data. Indeed, Frost and Sullivan forecasts that the “connected living” concept, comprised of the connected home, connected work, and even connected cities, will be a $731.79 billion market by 2020. Speech and voice technology will undoubtedly boast a major slice of it. Vendors such as Amazon are backing projects to develop voice control of everything from kitchen appliances to home security systems.”
As the Microsoft Windows Hello technology spreads, along with the introduction of new computer hardware, appropriate cameras, scanners and readers to take advantage of the software capabilities, more people will discover, as I have, that “logging on” with a glance or by touch is so much easier and faster. There have been several times when, as a Windows Insider, using the pre-release builds of Windows 10, that I have had to think for a few minutes to remember what my logon password was. I had gotten so used to using my pin (a four letter password), fingerprint or a glance at the screen, that my password seemed like a thing from the past. When I turn on my Surface Pro 4, the camera lights up and a “smiley face” comes up to log me on. A glance at the screen is all it takes.
As futuristic as this technology is, there is a global downside. Even though you are probably thinking “security,” this is not the real core issue. Security can be problematic, but there is a much deeper issue which goes to the foundation of our global society.
The idea of faster, easier and more human-like interaction with our connected devices presents two basic challenges. One is the extreme proliferation of data, rapidly expanding from terabytes to petabytes to exabytes. This data expansion is the prime driver of “the cloud.” Without “the cloud”, (huge data centers of thousands of computers) to store the data, along with the ability to process immense amounts of data, progress in this connected technology would be difficult at best.
However, beyond data storage and processing, there is a second, far more serious challenge presented as this technology progresses. These connected systems and required “cloud” are stressing the basic infrastructure of our global world, but probably not in the way you might think. Most of the data centers being built today use renewable energy and are very self-contained.
Because of the proliferation of electrical devices in this IoT and connected world, we need a very stable electrical grid, both to charge and to operate all these devices. This is a huge concern. Electric transmission lines, relay stations, transformers and other critical system components were developed for a 20th century world, where there were a limited number of electrical devices in use. To be sure, a cell phone and many devices in use today are very energy efficient, however, they all require “always on” electricity in several different forms. For example, cell phones use batteries to operate, which have to be charged. But, they also need the “always on” electrical components in cell towers to relay signals.
Another key component of the electrical grid is the water infrastructure. Water is used not only to generate electricity, either via stream turbines or as hydroelectric turbines, but as cooling water for power plants, both conventional and nuclear. The water infrastructure is also under extreme stress due to overuse, climatic variations and growing population. It has also suffered badly from lack of maintenance, repair and upgrading.
Clearly, without a stable and “always on” electrical grid our technology would grind to a halt within a few hours or days. Chaos would reign. The more enmeshed we get into this wonderful, connected technology, the more vulnerable we become.
While I am far from a luddite, I am concerned. To this end, I present over 100 of these infrastructure and other challenges we face, plus some expert predictions in my downloadable EBook entitled World Collapse or New Eden, 2015 Edition.
So my question is, and has been, for the last twelve years or more; why haven’t we spent money, time and resources on strengthening this global infrastructure base upon which our emerging technology relies? After all, it is in our best interest on a global basis to do so. Why is this not the number one issue in our elections? How many of our political leaders, candidates and elected officials have you heard discuss these infrastructure issues in any meaningful way (beyond just platitudes)? As noted in previous blogs, we have no long term repair, replacement or upgrade policy for either the energy or water infrastructure. Even our discussion of the mix of our energy generation, coal, wind, solar, nuclear, is haphazard at best by those in the industry. Long term planning, in these infrastructures, which take decades to plan and build, is now defined by next month’s profit and loss statement.
The only long term policy for both the energy and water infrastructure seems to stem around money and power (no pun intended). “Let’s not spend any money, time or resources on repair, maintenance, installation, or replacement” is the mantra revolving around the basic infrastructure of today’s world. We seemingly don’t need educated people in the form of engineers and scientists, or even a critical thinking public, because they are not the people who are respected in our society. Clearly, it is the sports figures, actors, top CEOs and even the Wall Street financial programmers who are being raised up on a pedestal and rewarded financially.
A good example of this was my own upbringing in the 1960s. With the proclamation of the goal to reach the moon by 1969 by President Kennedy, many of my generation went into science and engineering. It was deemed “cool” to aspire to achieve that goal many of us wanted to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Today, the development of “apps” and the creation of a firm around those apps, regardless of profitably or long term viability is the model. Just look at Twitter and Facebook (disclaimer - I use both for keeping in touch and marketing). Look at the incredible talent, in all fields, not just programmers, going into the financial markets of Wall Street to help develop “quants” and other market trading software, just to make money.
Sadly, our “leaders,” whether in elected public office, government or private corporations are not helping this crisis. They should be fostering discussions around the energy and other critical infrastructures but aren’t. They don’t appear to be looking for solutions either. They could, at the very least, like President Kennedy, be pushing for an expanded NASA, with goals to reach into the universe. This would at least say to the young generation that they need to think about goals beyond just enriching themselves. They could also be pushing ways to make education more affordable for our youth, as the discredited Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders did. The main goal of our elected and corporate leaders seems to be making the most money possible in the least amount of time and retiring at a very young age with huge benefit packages or stock options.
At the other end of the spectrum, the general public (read voter) apparently is more interested in the “side-show” of the recently ended “presidential conventions” or the Sunday afternoon football game (soccer in much of the rest of the world), than demanding discussions concerning these major issues, and many others, from those they aspire to elect. After all, while our leaders are in positions to make changes, they also realize that the general public can be very easily distracted by many things, and they are masters of distraction. Seemingly, to even hear a discussion involving these critical infrastructure issues, whether, energy, water, highways and bridges or communications, you need to go down to a very local level, with the people who are actually maintaining/installing/repairing the systems. Typically, these people have very little input with reference to direction or policy regarding their respective infrastructure on a national or international basis.
As I log in to my Surface Pro 4 using facial recognition or my fingerprint, I marvel at the possibilities. From Windows 10 to Microsoft’s new HoloLens, with its Holographic computing, the future is full of promise, in almost every human endeavor. The more I use the cloud for data storage and can access my data across my laptop, phone or tablet, the less chained I am to an office or even a specific device. Speech and bio-metrics, along with the cloud, are emerging technology and leading the way to an amazing “new” world, despite the daunting challenges.
As Ms. Jamison notes in her article:
“… it is an exciting time to be in speech technology and in technology in general.”
Sincerely,
H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
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Sent by Windows 10
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