As the world connects

When I first began thinking about this assignment I really didn't think that thinking would change all that much. After all, this technological rat race has to slow down at some point right? But as all good grad students do I thought more about the topic and also considered my mother's stories about being in college. She lived in the library and research was a time consuming and tedious process, even applying to college was a process and a half! Writing papers on a typewriter! I would never have finished a single essay with all the spelling and grammar mistakes I usually have make. Computers and the Internet have made information so readily available, and I can't imagine people 50, 30, or even 10 years ago fully understanding the extent to which knowledge would be so easily transferred. Not that research is not a time consuming process in 2008, but with the added help of the Internet sources and topics and be identified much faster and peer review can happen with a simple e-mail attachment and a click of the mouse. Not to mention that in some classes paper is a thing of the past! Especially at the the graduate level, some professors only require an electronic copy of an assignment. Humans have proved long ago that the only limit to what we can make is the limit of our imaginations, and with each new advancement in technology our imaginations are provide with more fuel.

In the next 50 years I think we will look back at cable and DSL Internet like many of us consider dial up now, and the Internet of the future will be far more interactive. Instant messaging will no longer be dominated by text, but video or better yet 3D transmissions of ourselves will be used to communicate through some sort of portable device (similar to the I phone only much more versatile). Cameras, phones, computers, PDAs, video games, and every other tech. device will combined in to one hand held digital device that will have service everywhere! Even in the middle of no-where SD which apparently is invisible to all cell phone providers now (otherwise know as Mclaughlin, my home town). People will be even more consumed with convenience, and having everything at their fingertips. An "Office" will take on a different meaning, rather than a building it will probably be an online space where people from all over the world will have their meeting with c0-workers they have never physically seen. College students will no longer be limited to taking classes at one university, because just like the online offices, online classrooms will connect universities from different cities, states, and countries. The opportunities for student to study under the top researchers in their field will no longer depend on if they can get accepted into the proper university and fields will become much more united.

Computers will no longer be limited by how fast a person can talk or type, but programs will be developed to read thoughts and the software will be able to take down information at the speed of thought. Brainstorming will forever take on a whole new meaning. As all of this takes place the present chaos that the technological world already exists in will only increase. As people learn to do less for themselves and the fundamental skills that are needed or writing, reading, and learning become more convenient there will be a breakdown in society. You can call me an "anti-technologist" but I believe as technology advances we will see a correlating break down in the functioning ability of our society. Skills 50 years ago that were considered necessity are no longer as important (handwriting, cooking, cleaning, knowing how to find a library book, how to grow a garden, etc). Technology has created a society completely dependant on technology, and I believe that it will be our downfall. Because I think in 50 years the way people will think will be "If its not convenient why do/learn it?"