Week+8+- Information+and+Communication+Technologies+in+the+great+transition+of+the+20th+and+21st+centuries


 * The role of Information and Communication Technologies in the great transition of the 20th and 21st centuries**


 * **History and future trends** || //The digital age is very recent; the rate of technological advance is mindbending. The best way to vision the future of ICT is to thoroughly understand past and present trends//.

. //Influence of mobile phones://
 * Sumerians/Mesopotamians began communication/information storage and retrieval with writing around 3000BC1.
 * 4 phases of IT evolution: Pre-mechanical: 3000BC - 1450AD; Mechanical 1450 - 1840; Electromechanical 1840 - 1940; Electronic 1940 - present.1.
 * early 1st century BC -first analogue computer: antikythera mechanism2.
 * 1645 first mechanical calculator3.
 * 1941 first programmable computer: Zuse Z3
 * 1948 first digital electronic stored-program computer
 * 1971 first email
 * 1985 mobile phones (cellphones)
 * 1980’s-90’s - shift away from industrial workforce to service economy and global job market3.
 * Term ‘ICT’ coined around 1980, used widely by start of 21st century
 * ‘data’ is anything stored; ‘information’ is data organised and presented meaningfully
 * 2001 iPod launch
 * 2005 online chatting, instant messaging
 * 2006 - ‘convergence’ - multiple communication devices in one unit
 * Moore’s Law - number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles every 18mths-2yrs; Data storage - global capacity doubles approx every 3 years4.
 * 1990’s PDAs, wireless networking; late 2000’s smartphones
 * Early 2000’s digital cameras, digital television, online gaming
 * High/low skill jobs = growing disparity between rich and poor, though greater job opportunities in developing countries; automation = job losses; Productivity increases with technology in manufacturing and other services5.
 * 21st century; Nanobots used for medical and health, cleaning up environment, providing fuel cells, solar panels, enter human brain and interact with biological neurons, full immersion in virtual reality from within the human CNS6. ||
 * **Technology** || //You need to be able to overview the main technologies underpinning the digital age and how rapidly they are evolving.//
 * Tremendous expansion of human intelligence through ‘merger’ with technology6.
 * Technology now driving almost every facet of our lives - communication, music, entertainment, relationships, business, manufacturing, biology, energy, transport
 * As with biological evolution, technological evolution creates a capability then uses that capability to bring on the next step - therefore development exponential //not// linear6.
 * Late 1970’s - first personal computers; by 1989 - www invented - conceived as a fool-proof network connecting all computers and resistant to SPOF (single point of failure); early 1990’s - internet reaches critical mass3.
 * Evolution so rapid that computer costing $3,000 in 1997 cost just $1,000 by 20006.
 * Lightweight, efficient, inexpensive solar panels which can deliver all human energy needs based on 2030 requirements6.
 * Nanotechnology; control of matter on an atomic/ molecular scale - by 2008 there were 3 to 4 new nanotech products reaching market each week; potentially great environmental/human health benefits - but also significant risks6.
 * Miniaturisation - shrinking the size of technology to, for example, enter human body to perform diagnostic/ therapeutic tasks6.
 * GMO’s
 * Robots built from the molecule up6.
 * Technology to overcome disease and poverty eg sequencing human genome/ gene therapy - rewriting human software by inhibiting genes which cause disease6.
 * Spacial and temporal resolution of brain scanning doubles annually6.
 * Reverse-engineering of human brain by early 21st century6. ||
 * **Information** || //Information technology underpins seemingly unlimited power to: Record and store new information or data sets: eg. massive records of climate events, DNA profiles etc. Retrieve, sort, match and analyse information.//
 * Hierarchy: Data, information, knowledge, wisdom7.
 * Information is central to several new sciences
 * Technological advances have dramatically changed the way we communicate, gather, store, use, share information. Some challenge notions of privacy.
 * More recent examples: smart cards - chips in credit cards which store information, Radio frequency ID tags on purchased goods, bluetooth technology, biometrics - facial recognition.
 * __1986 -2007 Sustained compound growth in world technological information capacity:__ Receiving information grew 7% annually; Storing information - grew 25% annually (Information storage - world capacity 2.6 (optimally compressed) exabytes in 1986; 295 in 2007); Exchanging information via telecommunications grew 30% annually (Information transmission world capacity 432 (oc) exabytes in 1986; 1.9 zettabytes in 2007 (= 174 newspapers //per person//, per day); To compute information using human-operated computers - grew 61% annually3. ||
 * **Communication** || //Consider how we have been affected by the mobile phone, the internet//
 * 1946 - first mobile phone call made from a car in Missouri8.
 * 1973 - first call on handheld mobile phone. Weighed approx 1kg8.
 * Between 1990-2003, approx 70% of world population subscribed to mobiles8.
 * 1979 - Tokyo - first cellular network launches
 * 1983 - first US 1G network, 3G launches in 2001
 * 1992 - first SMS computer to mobile; 1993 first mobile to mobile SMS8.
 * 2000 - first mobile news service. Can now SMS/ connect to other phone users globally/ check weather/internet/email/satnav/playing games/ banking and bill paying/take photos/ shop/video calling and streaming/ diarise/ mini laptop - run businesses on a PDA. Mobile phones have become an essential for many, a fashion statement
 * Feb 2010 - 5.6 billion mobile phone subscribers and growing
 * One iPhone has 100 times more computing power than all computers combined which first put man on moon9.
 * Estimated 1 in 10 subscribers have extra ‘secret’ phone - clandestine affairs/business8.
 * Mobile phones - whether on or off - can be used to pinpoint holder’s location9.
 * Contactable 24/7: In Australia, very unusual if you don’t have a mobile number
 * Cell phones can now translate from one language to another6.
 * Health risk - carcinogenic hazard according to WHO in 20118.

//Influence of internet://
 * Internet since 1969 - initially for email and file transfer10.
 * World wide web since 1989 - In just over 2 decades, web has made many other forms of media obsolete. Wired to wireless (wifi) late ‘90’s - no longer cable constrained - global wifi networks now operational - World becomes office or classroom
 * Usage discloses significant information to third parties via cookies, flash cookies, evercookies, metadata, botnets, malware, spyware, web bugs, phishing, pharming. This can be used for tracking, social profiling, content analysis, Google maps - street view disclosing private property details, 3rd party disclosure, targeted advertising, device fingerprinting, as well as fraudulent and criminal activity10. ||
 * **Social issues** || //Consider how ICT has initiated or contributed to:  Globalisation, Social groupings (the online tribe), Political or other movements, Loss of privacy (big brother is watching us; very effectively), our actions, places we go, things we do, think or say can and often are recorded and analysed, Manipulation of mind: ICT can make us less vulnerable to propaganda and advertising or more so.//
 * Industry more information intensive/less labour intensive = cheaper running costs/decreased value of labour //and// capital5.
 * Some ethical issues with IT: Copyright; Big Brother - employers monitoring employee computers/Government, private corporations or other monitoring use and content - includes cookies and spyware; hacking (phones and internet); spam; pornography; Addictive behaviours; obsessive/compulsive use of tech; desensitisation to violence (eg with online gaming); rise in mass violence/ terrorism/ drug use through easy online access to weapons/chemical/ bomb technology;
 * Mobile phones - privacy, phone hacking, SIM and handset can easily be tracked, used as listening device; use at schools banned due to distraction potential/in-built camera; invasion of privacy - eg creepshots.com11.
 * Legal and ethical questions regarding multiple versions of future selves12.
 * Nanotechnology concerns: potential toxicity of nanomaterials
 * Life expectancy advancing greatly - Ageing population in Australia - burden on social services/pension funds/retirement age superannuation
 * Development of untraceable WMD’s and other weapons, networked government cameras, nanoparticulate matter and nanofibres human and eco-hazzardous, insurability
 * Performance-enhancing = unfair advantage? (sport/business etc)
 * Social media - MySpace, Facebook, Twitter - positives: 24/7 connected to world/ social leaders/celebrities; negatives: cyber bullying, spying, cyberstalking, access to age inappropriate content, anonymity disguises user identity/age/gender/real intent
 * Globally, desktop publishing/ web/ YouTube/ digital video/ self- broadcast capabilities mean society more savvy re messaging and intention - wary of explicit advertising/ marketers now seek other means to connect - They gather more information about us than ever but can no longer impact through traditional media so becoming more creative/resourceful/covert ||
 * **Science fiction or fact** ||  //ICT is moving so fast that fiction soon becomes a matter of fact. Scientists at the forefront of ICT are increasingly warning of seemingly incredible potential outcomes of their work.//
 * Singularity - fusion of humans and technology to produce a greater-than-human superintelligence with no distinction between human and machine.6. Predicted to occur this century. Currently contains unknown unknowns - poses both threats and opportunity
 * Computers which model human brain operation/Personality capture/emotional extraction12.
 * Current: Remote warfare. A soldier in Florida flies an unmanned craft through the Middle East and kills targets - video games now real life13.
 * Headset that reads brainwaves allowing individual to move objects and drive physical electronics through thought/ computers which read and respond to facial expressions and emotions14.
 * Self-replication
 * Ability to replace neurons in human brain -like adding capacity to a computer - to increase memory, cognitive, computative ability (consciousness?)12.
 * Uploading a human mind into a robot body6.
 * Replace 10% of human red blood cells with nanotech robotic versions to complete Olympic sprint for 15 minutes without taking a breath or stay underwater without breathing for 4hrs6.
 * $1000 worth of computer will be far more powerful than human brain6.
 * ‘Beamers’ will allow other humans to plug into them via internet so you experience what it’s like to be someone else6. ||

**References:** 1. Wikipedia, //Information Technology//, accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology 2. Wikipedia, //Information Technology//, History of computers, accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology#History_of_computers 3. Wikipedia, //Information Age//, accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Age 4. Moore’s Law, accessible at http://www.mooreslaw.org/ 5. Wikipedia, //Information Age, The impact on workforce//, accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Age#The_impact_on_workforce 6. Kurzweil, R, //The accelerating power of technology//, TED talk, Recorded February 2005 - Posted November 2006, accessible at http://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us.html 7. Wikipedia//, DIKW hierarchy//, accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIKW 8. Wikipedia, //Mobile Phones,// accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones 9. Rosenthal, P, //A brief history of the internet,// Jewish TV accessible at http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/1521866/jewish/A-Brief-History-of-the-Internet.htm 10. Wikipedia, //Internet,// accessible at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet 11. Creepshots website, accessible at www.creepshots.com 12. Pelletier, D//, Replacing the human brain: wild idea promises incredible future//, Terasem Movement Inc., Journal of Geoethical Nanotechnology, Vol 7 Issue 1 (2012) 1-4, accessible at http://www.terasemjournals.org/GNJournal/GN0701/Papers/Pelletier.pdf 13. Roy M, Crooks H, documentary: //Surviving Progress,// information available at http://survivingprogress.com/ 14. Le, T, //Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves,// TED Talks, Recorded and posted July 2010, accessible at http://www.ted.com/talks/tan_le_a_headset_that_reads_your_brainwaves.html