Future Technology Essay, Research Paper

People often think that future is all about flying cars, robots and space

travelling. Maybe it will be like that, who knows, but at least until this day

the changes haven?t been remarkable. Companies are all the time investing more

money on research and development. This indicates that companies and government

are interested to achieve and find new technological inventions that would

change the markets. All ready one of the computer related inventions, Internet,

has changed the spreading of information globally. E-companies? are stocks are

rising in the stock markets like rockets. This is a great example how future

technology will change the economics around the world as it affects greatly our

everyday life. ?Internet is worldwide network of connected computers. This

network enables you to communicate with the rest of the world in different

ways.?(1) Has been approximated that the total amount of information globally

doubles every 18 months, which indicates that internet, as an important part of

media nowadays, affects everyone of us though we might not have a possibility to

be on-line. The approximated number of people who are on-line daily is more than

18%. ?As you can imagine and as you probably may have seen, there are a lot

companies. You can find the big ones like Coca-Cola, Disney, Xerox, IBM. Apart

from supplying (product) information and amusement, they mostly use the web for

name and product branding (recognition). There’s a completely new industry with

lots and lots of Net based companies like the search engines, banner exchanges,

hosting services, (Net) marketers and software enterprises. And there are

others, which have expanded their originally offline business field to the Net

(Credit Card companies, Researchers, Marketers, Yellow Pages). Small and medium

business companies selling to consumers. A great part of them use the Net to

expand their offline business, others try to make a living on it. And some of

them see the necessity to transfer from one to the other in the future.

Business-to-business companies are also found on the Net. In short, all kind of

enterprises have taken the step to the online world.?(2) Internet is not only

a way to spend time surfing, but it is also an very good way to make money by

transforming products, services and markets. It is an easy way to reach people

when thinking advertising and it is an easy way to people to reach the

information wanted, but the competition between companies in the virtual reality

of Internet, is as hard as in the real world. Government?s space program also

influences and will influence economics of the future. U.S. government?s NASA

(North American Space Association) has done great job exploring space and

research new opportunities in outer space and other planets. The question is how

the new future technology will change the direction of economics and by that our

living on Earth or maybe on some other planet? The world population is growing

fast. The room to live on earth might be a problem in future, and Earth might

not be able to feed the upcoming population. This is one of the reasons why we

have to explore the space for new opportunities. The problem is the money. Are

taxpayers willing to pay? After the resent failure of sending a $266 million

Pathfinder to Mars, taxpayers started doubt is the space program worth it, but

mistakes that are caused by understaffed and overworked space teams are not

unique to interplanetary missions, like NASA?s Pathfinder mission. A single

broken cord can turn to a $400 million cost, but who said it is not risky.Is

this $450 billion plan going to give taxpayers their moneys back? No, because

the new technology will help their children and grandchildren to live their

everyday lives in polluted and overpopulated environment caused by the past

generations. ?In recent years, cost-reduction efforts throughout America?s

space industry have had profound effects on the workforce. Older and more

experienced workers were the predominant target of cost-conscious layoffs or of

contract swapping prior to retirement-benefits vesting. But even the younger

workers, supposedly their eventual replacement, were victimized by the

cuts.?(3)This is what the taxpayers should understand; their selfish use of

money on researching new technology might be a threat for the future

generations. ?If we were to bring back a rock in 2005 that clearly shows

evidence of ancient life on the planet or fi we were to find evidence of life on

Mars, that would be great impetus for a human program. A manned mission must

have a compelling scientific or economic rationale?, said Alan Ladwig,

NASA?s associate administrator.(4) The greatest effect of future technology

has is on the productivity. Technological change, or innovation, is a

contributor to the growth of productivity. From the development of plows to the

invention of computers, history shows many example of technologies that have

increased productivity. New products, new methods of production, new ways of

organizing production(Ford?s assembly line) or marketing products and new

methods of communication can each demonstrate how productivity increases. And

when productivity increases faster than the population, standard of living

increases. This makes people?s everyday life easier and the quality of living

is higher. One example how technological change has changed our living past 10

years have been reusable products and materials. Recycling and reusable

materials have made our quality of living better by minimizing the production of

trash. Also the technological changes in agriculture have increased productivity

of our basic need products. ?One of the most dramatic high-tech developments

arriving at the millenium is the obsolescence of money. The advent of the

Internet and other new media marketplaces, like interactive TV, demands a new

kind of currency that is secure, virtual, global, and digital. The death of hard

cash, and its rebirth as digital currency, will transform all transactions in

society and touch industry worldwide. The emerging digital market and the new

interactive consumer challenge our assumptions about how to conduct business. 30

million people today with a spending power of over$100 billion, represents a

serious market no business can afford to ignore. This new consumer is virtual,

global, interactive and multimedia-driven.?(5) The digital money has taken

over. The simple cash has changed into numbers on the computers. People pay

their bills from home by using computers and Internet, people pay their grocery

with a plastic credit card and people go shopping from home and they don?t

even have to move, just use the keyboard. A huge problem in the future will be

the energy. Already we are noticing that our sources of energy will be empty

someday. A team of scientists and engineers have predicted that the

technological trends that will shape the world in next 50 years will be high

powered energy packages. ?On the energy front are highpower energy packages

such as microgenerators of electricity that will make electronic products and

appliances highly mobile; environmentally clean, decentralized power sources;

batteries linked to solar power; and small generators fueled by natural

gas.?(6) As the population of the Earth keeps increasing we have to figure out

how to feed all the people who are going to live here. Globally thinking we are

already suffering of the lack of the food. All over the world hunger is a big

problem. Clean water will be a problem too if technological changes won?t help

us. ?Designer foods, genetically engineered foods that are environmentally

friendly and highly nutritious, will fill the stores. Even cotton and wool will

be genetically engineered. Water worldwide will be safe and inexpensive because

technology will provide advanced filtering, processing, and delivery.

Desalination and water extraction from air are also possible. In the years ahead

new technologies will become much more personalized, and they will closely

affect almost every aspect of our lives.?(7) This was an very optimistic

prediction of the future, but until then we have to keep people worldwide alive

without the new innovations. The money countries are using to military should go

to the people who suffer hunger and to the research of cures of globally spread

diseases like HIV and cancer. No one knows what?s going to happen in the

future, but the new future technology can at least give us a direction. Our

actions have a great effect how we and the upcoming generations are going to

live on Earth. Putting money now on research and development gives a better

economic base that we can rely on. The biggestchange to our economic will have

the increased productivity. By increased productivity our standard of living

will be higher and our everyday life will be easier. May everyone of us be there

to witness the flying cars and talking robots, so that we can be proud of our

achievements. FOOTNOTES (1) ?What is Internet?? p.1 (2) ?What is

Internet?? p.5 (3) Obreg, USA Today p.3 (4) Allen, Canoe p.2 (5) ?Premiere

Speakers Bureau? p.1 (6) Sixeas, ?Whither 2020?? p.1 (7) Sixeas,

?Whither 2020?? p.1

?What is Internet?? An Own Site 2 May 2000 http://www.anownsite.com/local-business/what-is-internet.html

?Dr. James Canton? Premiere Speakers Bureau 4 April http://www.publicspeakers.com/speak/canton.htm

Allen Jane E. ?Pathfinder ignites interest in human Mars travel:But is worth

it?? Canoe 10 July 1997. 15 February 2000 http://www.canoe.ca/MarsMission?jul10_marstravel.htkl

Sanborn Sonny ?Is NASA worth the expense?? The Oklahoma Daily 1 March 1996.

15 February 2000 http://www.daily.ou.edu/issues/1996/mar-01/nasa.processed.html

?21st century trends? Future Technology 1 July 1998. 24 February 2000

http://suite101.com/article.cfm/future_technology/9066 ?On the yellow brick

road? Economist 11 September 1999. 26 March 2000 http://www.economist.com/editorial/freeforall/i99909/su3796.html

?A technology road map? Technology Planning 4 April 2000 http://www.kbdplanning.com/planning.html

Oberg James ?NASA faster, cheaper, but not better? USA Today 7 December

1999. Proquest 4 March 2000. Sixeas Virginia M. ?whither 2020?? Environment

March 2000. Proquest 4 March 2000.