Issues and answers: part 8

Written by: Lee Sonogan

“The computer in your cell phone today is a million times cheaper and a thousand times more powerful and about a hundred thousand time smaller than the one computer at MIT in 1965.”
― Stephen Hawking

Technology is very important in our ever-growing world. So much uses to be more efficient,safe, epic, complex, sustainable and so much more. The radio took 38 years to reach a market audience of 50 million. The television took 13 years to reach a market audience of 50 million. The iPod took 3 years to reach a market audience of 50 million. The evolution of Technology has helped the world in many ways. Advancements in so much fields and efficient/practical to use. While it has done many positive things for people, it has its problems. Like anything it has issues and there are many concerns about it. regardless, its uses and actions will send history into the next era.

Without electrical power, the telephone, air conditioning, radio, television, and computers, what we have come to accept as modern society, would disappear. Without electricity, the gas pump at your service station stops. Without refrigeration, preservation and transportation of food on a global scale would be impossible. No hospital could sustain life during surgery without machines that monitor the patients. All the leading nations of the world depend on technology for their very survival. Facilities, public health would be threatened and our standard of living would be reduced to a hand-tooled economy. In other words, it is technology that propels today’s civilization.

Machines actually care nothing about whether they turn out five thousand cars a month or five hundred. They merely function as they are designed to. They make no complaints as they move in the hot sun harvesting crops and planning seeds and such. They have no sweat glands or physical needs for sleep. It is because they do not have emotions that they will not think to enslave humans. Machines do not have human and animal quality like feelings, hunger, thirst, stimulation, experience, and internal secrets. When a computer is destroyed in the presence of another computer, there is no anger, resentment, or revenge on the part of the surviving computer.

Science and technology have created none of our problems. Our problems arise from human abuse and misuse of other people, also technology. Downsizing is not due to machines displacing people. Machines should be used to shorten the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and lengthen vacation time. If we implement new technology to raise the standard of living for everyone, then machine technology would benefit all. Dangerous side effects of misusing technology escalate include environmental pollution, the over-exploitation of the land and sea, and the wasted resources of war and unnecessary human suffering, that sometime causes people to think of returning to a simpler life with less technology.

Technology has made the world richer overall, but not everyone has benefited. In 2009, the world’s top 1 percent held 44 percent of the world’s wealth; by 2014, they had 48 percent. By 2020, it is estimated that the 1 percent will own 54 percent of global wealth. That is not the direction anyone wants. Each year, technology brings a wealth of advancement that could alter the future, but not equally distributed to where it is needed.

“Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced [robots] wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.”
― Stephen Hawking

Industries use automation to benefit a select few, the shareholders. In this way the majority of people may very well be nonessential personnel, who have outlived their usefulness and are set aside, much as obsolete machines are scrapped today. It is not technology that is at fault, but the inhumane use of technology for private profit. Humans contribute to this misuse of technology when they buy stock in, and products from, companies that show little concern for humans or the environment.

 At heart, what’s transpired is that technology has hollowed out the demand for low-skilled workers, who have been the first ones replaced by automation. But they’re not the only ones who should be worried. A 2013 study from Oxford University predicts that up to 47 percent of U.S. jobs will be computerized in the next 10-20 years. And with the rise of websites like WebMD, LegalZoom and E*Trade, even white-collar professionals like lawyers, doctors and financial middlemen are under threat from technology. For the time being, positions that require empathy—say, nurses over doctors—are better positioned to withstand the technological blow. Doctors and scientists have used technology to tackle problems that once seemed insurmountable

 An important advancement in the medical field, a new way of growing human brain cells that could help uncover the mysteries of dementia, mental illness and other neurological disorders. Cerebral organoids that can now be grown in labs possess features of a human brain in the first trimester of development. They could unlock new understanding to how neurons grow and function, leading to groundbreaking answers about brain activity, but also schizophrenia and other diseases.

 With the Internet of Things expected to comprise 30 billion connected devices by 2020, one of the most exciting areas of focus today is now on nanosensors capable of circulating in the human body or being embedded in construction materials. Once connected, this Internet of nanosensors could have a huge impact on the future of medicine, architecture, agriculture and drug manufacture.

 The internet may be the greatest piece of technology from the 20th century for the average person. In 1984, the number of internet devices reached 1000. In 1992, the number of internet devices reached 1 million. In 2008, the number of internet devices reached 1 billion. There are over 1 billion websites on the world-wide web today. This milestone was first reached in September of 2014. Each site contains contend of all sorts of things. Social media is an awesome free source to promote/create positive things on the internet. Facebook has more than 1.3 billion registered users; about 100 million of those are fake profiles. Facebook took 2 years to reach a market audience of 50 million.

 Google indexed it’s 1 trillionth unique URL on July 25, 2008. That is thought to be about 20% of all the pages on the Internet but a high percentage of the World Wide Web. One google search produces about 0.2g of CO2. But since you hardly get an answer from one search, a typical search session produces about the same amount of CO2 as does boiling a kettle. Google handles about 1 billion search queries per day, releasing some 200 tons of CO2 per day. Google uses an estimated 15 billion kWh of electricity per year, more than most countries. However, google generates a lot of their own power with their solar panels.

 Here are some fun facts about how we use technology:

• There are some 2 billion TV sets in use.

• There are more than 4 billion cell phones in use. About 3 million cell phones are sold every day.

• About 3 billion people connect to the Internet, 850 million of them speak English.

• People view 15 billion videos online every month.

• About 20% of the videos on YouTube are music related.

• 24 hours of video viewing is uploaded every minute on YouTube.

• Since 2008, video games have outsold movie DVDs.

• Amazon sells more e-books than printed books.

• On eBay, there is an average of $680 worth of transactions every second.

• On an average work day, a typist’s fingers travel about 12.6 miles.

• Skype is banned from the public in China.

• In general, people tend to read as much as 10% slower from a screen than from paper.

• Flickr hosts some 5 billion photographs, Facebook hosts more than 15 billion.

Shared advances in natural language processing and social awareness algorithms, coupled with an unprecedented availability of data, will soon allow smart digital assistants help with a vast range of tasks, from keeping track of one’s finances and health to advising on wardrobe choice. On the internet, apps or any other site or platform. The uses of the internet are endless. One of the last platforms where people can get what they need and say what they want publically.

Drones have proven to be a useful tool in recent years, and the next step is for the unmanned aircrafts to become autonomous. The technology is the first step in integrating drones into everyday life. With the ability to avoid objects, drones could move about cities freely, check powerlines, deliver medical supplies or, even, that new pair of boots you ordered from Amazon.

Self-driving cars may not yet be fully legal in most geographies, but their potential for saving lives, cutting pollution, boosting economies, and improving quality of life for the elderly and other segments of society has led to rapid deployment of key technology forerunners along the way to full autonomy.

Technology is very important but comes with many problems and errors. 9 out of every 1,000 computers are infected with spam. 160 billion emails are sent daily, 97% of which are spam. Spam generates 33bn KWt-hours of energy every year, enough to power 2.4 million homes, producing 17 million tons of CO2. Spammer get 1 response to every 12 million emails they send yet, it still makes them a small profit.

Technology has also created a whole new set of global security concerns. The modern trend of cyber crime and economic espionage is estimated to cost the world more than $445 billion every year. That’s roughly 1 percent of global income. And while it hasn’t happened yet, the fear that cyber attacks can trigger real-world conflicts remains an ongoing concern.

Technology has changed the face of modern warfare. A decade ago, the Pentagon had a stockpile of fewer than 50 drones; today it has an arsenal of about 7,000. The Pentagon estimates that China will build nearly 42,000 drones by 2023. Others will follow suit. Yet another possible complication. Technology has given terrorist groups like ISIS an unparalleled platform to spread their messages of hate. The knowledge needed to build bombs in the comfort of your own home is now just a few short clicks away. Technology is capable of empowering every single individual in the world, even the worst of us.

Planned obsolescence continues to waste our planets resources. Planned obsolescence is when a product is designed to have a specific lifespan. This is a marketing strategy that will generate long-term sales. These products that go obsolete, prevent you from repairs and the programing does not get updated.It is a business strategy in which the obsolescence of a product is planned and built into it from its conception. Electronic waste is one of the fasted growing sources of waste according to the UNEP.

Overall, It is cheaper to build new city’s to maintain them. Even doing little things like France making solar roadways is cheaper in the long run. We need more technology, not less. Automation in all areas need to be efficient and sustainable for everyone to satisfy there needs and not benefit the ones who can afford the technology. The technological revolution is here to stay and will eventually, whether we support it or not, free people and improve everyday life. We are close to living in the future, look at all the virtual reality devices and games out there for it. But how can we pay for all these complex machines? In the next part I will be talking about $$$. (Money)