What has the power to change everything?

What has the power to change everything? Power implies possession of ability to wield force, permissive authority, or substantial influence. Change implies making either an essential difference often amounting to a loss of original identity or a substitution of one thing for another. Everything needs no implication; it is simply all that exists. Three powerful words that when grouped together create quite an intense question. What has the power to change everything? In a word, it is technology. Technology is one thing that has changed our world and will continue to change it. Neil Postman describes technological change as being ecological as opposed to additive. He states, “A new medium does not add something; it changes everything.” (Postman 1998).
You could create an extensive list of technological advances that have changed the way we live. History would most definitely support Postman’s statement. The technological advancements that have occurred have without question changed all that exists is some way. Some have improved our lives and planet, while others have done the absolute opposite. One can argue both sides with any new medium, but Postman provided five insightful ideas regarding technological change that help guide future thoughts on these advancements and the affect they will without a doubt have on our lives.
According to Postman these are his five ideals. First, that we always pay a price for technology; the greater the technology, the greater the price. Second, that there are always winners and losers, and that the winners always try to persuade the losers that they are really winners. Third, that there is embedded in every great technology an epistemological, political or social prejudice. Fourth, technological change is not additive, it is ecological. And fifth, technology tends to become mythic; that is perceived as part of the natural order of things, and therefore tends to control more of our lives than is good for us (Postman 1998).
Postman helps identify some key issues that have to be addressed when looking at these advancements. There are destructive facets to technology. It is often hard to see things that essentially make your life easier as destructive. Ultimately human beings are responsible for the creation of our technologies, but not letting our creations control and eventually destroy us is the challenge. It all gives the feel of some science fiction movie, but unlike the movies this is reality. We can’t exactly hit pause right before the earth is destroyed by one of our creations.
The Techology Review lists their top 10 emerging technologies of 2008. Although the emerging technologies may be hard for the average person to comprehend, they are sure to have an impact on our lives. Knowledge of these emerging technologies along with application of Postman’s five ideals can help us prepare for the change that is destined to emerge from these advancements. They have the power to change everything and they will.

1. Who: Eric Horvitz, Microsoft Research
Definition: Surprise modeling combines data mining and machine learning to help people do a better job of anticipating and coping with unusual events.
Impact: Although research in the field is preliminary, surprise modeling could aid decision makers in a wide range of domains, such as traffic management, preventive medicine, military planning, politics, business, and finance.
Context: A prototype that alerts users to surprises in Seattle traffic patterns has proved effective in field tests involving thousands of Microsoft employees. Studies investigating broader applications are now under way. (Waldrop 2008)

2. Who: Krishna Palem, Rice University
Definition: PCMOS is a microchip design technology that allows engineers to trade a small degree of accuracy in computation for substantial energy savings.
Impact: In the short term, PCMOS designs could significantly increase battery life in mobile devices; in a decade, the theories behind PCMOS may need to be invoked if Moore’s Law is to continue to hold.
Context: Palem and his collaborators have begun building test chips for specific applications; Palem is working on plans for startup companies to commercialize the technology. (Jonietz 2008)

3. Who: Alex Zettl, University of California, Berkeley
Definition: At the core of the nanoradio is a single molecule that can receive radio signals.
Impact: Tiny radio devices could improve cell phones and allow communication between tiny devices, such as environmental sensors.
Context: New nanotech tools are allowing researchers to fabricate very small devices. The nanoradio is one of the latest. (Service 2008)

4. Who: Marin Soljacic, MIT
Definition: Wireless power technology transmits electricity to devices without the use of cables.
Impact: Any low-power device, such as a cell phone, iPod, or laptop, could recharge automatically simply by coming within range of a wireless power source, eliminating the need for multiple cables—and perhaps, eventually, for batteries.
Context: Eliminating the power cord would make today’s ubiquitous portable electronics truly wireless. A number of researchers and startups are making headway in this growing field. (Chu 2008)

5. Who: John Kitching, U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology
Definition: Miniaturized atomic magnetometers the size of a grain of rice require little power and are sensitive to very weak magnetic fields.
Impact: Tiny, inexpensive magnetometers could lead to portable MRI machines, tools for detecting buried explosive devices, and ways to evaluate mineral deposits remotely.
Context: Kitching's miniaturization of these sensors could bring them into much wider use in the coming decade. (Bourzac 2008)

6. Who: Kevin Lynch, Adobe Systems
Definition: Offline Web applications, developed using Web technologies such as HTML and Flash, can take advantage of the resources of a user’s computer as well as those of the Internet.
Impact: Developers can quickly and cheaply build full-fledged desktop applications that are usable in a broad range of devices and operating systems.
Context: Adobe will release AIR early this year; companies such as eBay, AOL, and Anthropologie have built applications using early versions of the software. Google is working on a competing platform called Gears (Naone 2008).

7. Who: Walter de Heer, Georgia Tech
Definition: Transistors based on graphene, a carbon material one atom thick, could have extraordinary electronic properties.
Impact: Initial applications will be in ultrahigh-speed communications chips, with computer processors to follow.
Context: A number of academic researchers and several electronics companies are studying graphene-based electronics. (Bullis 2008).

8. Who: Jeff Lichtman, Harvard University
Definition: Connectomics aims to map all synaptic connections between neurons in the mammalian brain.
Impact: The wiring diagrams being generated should lead to better understanding of diseases such as autism and schizophrenia, as well as new insight into learning and other cognitive functions.
Context: Advances in imaging, molecular biology, and computation are converging to make it possible to generate these complex maps. (Singer 2008)

9. Who: Sandy Pentland, MIT
Definition: Personal reality mining infers human relationships and behavior by applying data-mining algorithms to information collected by cell-phone sensors that can measure location, physical activity, and more.
Impact: Models generated by analyzing data from both individuals and groups could enable automated security settings, smart personal assistants, and monitoring of personal and community health.
Context: Cell phones are now sophisticated enough to collect and analyze data on personal behavior, and researchers are developing techniques that allow them to effectively sort through such information. (Greene 2008)

10. Who: Frances Arnold, Caltech
Definition: Cellulolytic enzymes break down the cellulose found in biomass so it can be used as a feedstock for biofuels.
Impact: Increased use of cellulosic biofuels could cut greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce reliance on oil.
Context: Processes for making cellulosic biofuels are still too expensive to be practical. A number of companies are racing to find a solution. (Goho 2008)




Resources

Bourzac, K., (March 2008). TR10: Atomic Magnetometers. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20239.

Bullis, K., (March 2008). TR10: Graphene Transistors. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20242.

Chu, J., (March 2008). TR10: Wireless Power. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20248.

Goho, A. M., (March 2008). TR10: Cellulolytic Enzymes. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20240.

Greene, K., (March 2008). TR10: Reality Mining. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20247.

Jonietz, E. (March 2008). TR10: Probabilistic Chips. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20246.

Naone, E., (March 2008). TR10: Offline Web Applications. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20245.

Postman, N., (1998). Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change. Retrived March 29, 2008, from http://www.mat.upm.es/~jcm/neil-postman--five-things.html.

Service, R. F., (March 2008). TR10: NanoRadio. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20244.

Singer, E., (March 2008). TR10: Connectomics. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20241.


Waldrop, M. M., (March 2008). TR10: Modeling Surprise. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=emerging08&id=20243.