A lot of the talks we’ve had here at IMM this past year had to do with specific technologies, so it was really refreshing and even more so rewarding to have one on just technology and the immense speed it is growing at. The speaker in question is Wayne MacPhail, who is no stranger to changing technology as he began in print and when he saw the future, moved online.
Speaking of the future, the best quote Wayne used to blanket a part of his talk was from Gibson, “the future is already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed”. Which essentially makes sense if you just think about all the overpriced gadgets that tech freaks get excited over every few months that eventually end up in everyones hands or go the way of the beta. The key is to be able to predict which of these technologies will take off. Some are more obvious than others. I doubt there were ever many doubters about the potential of the internet.
The idea of the past, present, and future existing at the same time also stemmed from this topic. Blade Runner being a prime example of a world where the future is pasted on hap hazard to the past. I feel that way about parts of Toronto, where store fronts will show chunks of facades from decades earlier, it gives it a nice collage effect. It a lot of cases this seems to be the nature of the beast with technology. Medical and the sort research aside, most technology isn’t really essential to our existence and usual exists for commerce reasons anyway, so it can’t be expected to be available every to everyone.
Another interesting point Wayne brought up was to do with the how every 24 months, the amount of memory/computer speed doubles. This is mostly cool, but also partly unsettling when I think about where it is all leading to. We can process more data, run more complex programs, we essentially model life in these machines. It makes me think about the hard line between technology and the natural world and how for me I still prefer to have a seperation at times. I don’t know what it is about me but I enjoy doing some tasks myself. I still prefer to open the car door with my key just for the sensation of causing that little ‘click’. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy to have my desktop run faster and the ability to access any information I want at any time, it mostly comes down to the divide of technology that makes some tasks more convienient/practical/safe/fun and not just more lazy.
Many other points were covered by Wayne, but these got me thinking the most. If you wish to know what they were I recommend checking out my other classmates blogs in the blog roll and seeing what they took away from the talk.
