It is hard to imagine that just 100 years ago people were still using horse and cart to get around. Air travel was not even a thing back then either. Yes, there were small planes as the first successful flight was in 1903 just 118 years ago, but there were no airliners we could just hop on and travel overseas. Space travel was a figment of people’s imagination back then too. The first satellite went into orbit just 63 years ago back in 1957. How things have changed today!
If you have ever watched the film Shawshank Redemption (the best movie ever made by the way!), then you will remember Brooks ‘Brooksy’ Hatlen when he says ‘The world got itself a hurry all of a sudden’. That’s is literally what has happened. In the space of a century, if we start at 1900, planes, spacecraft, and cars are all invention of the beginning of the century.
When you start to think about PCs, mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, the internet, and VR tech are all inventions post-1960s – well at the very least PC only came out in 1964 which is 56 years ago and mobile phones in the 1990s. It is amazing how fast the human race developed this tech and with technology, you can make more technology – which begs the question – what on earth are we going to come up with over the next 100 years?
Well, there are plenty of theories out there but that is not what this blog is about. We want to look at some of the useful home tech available right now that you may find useful. Pieces of tech and software that could make a difference in your life.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage has become very popular among businesses and individuals due to the ease of access and security of data. It has become a reliable alternative to physical data storage devices. Companies like Dade2 are providing reliable cloud storage services.
The top reason why people and business go for cloud storage is the accessibility. You can access your data from anywhere in world. All you need is just an internet connection and a smart device or laptop.
If you are a business owner then you must transform your storage model from physical to cloud. It is a very cost effective solution. It is the future of storage process for sure.
Blockchain Versus Cryptocurrencies
With Bitcoin rallying towards the $20,000 mark in late 2020, the excitement surrounding blockchain solution has been rekindled for those that lost interest in the crypto sphere. However, for those that work with blockchain tech, it is business as usual regardless of the prices of cryptocurrencies.
It seems that one of the hardest concepts to grasp when it comes to cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech it can often be hard for people to separate the two. Cryptos are a solution that uses blockchain tech. You can buy and sell crypto as a financial tool as well as earn free bitcoin by mining or using services that help you loan your bitcoin. There is an entire financial sector of this technology out there, but as a solution to financial issues, fiat currencies pose.
When we talk about the blockchain as a whole, there are tons of other real-world problems these ecosystems solve. For example, IBM tracks food from the source to the supermarket for brands such as Walmart by using a blockchain ecosystem. There is no cryptocurrency attached to this, it is purely there as a solution.
SaaS Software Systems & Tools
One of the most prevalent software solutions out there is not just ‘a solution’ as in singular, it is many solutions using what we call SaaS, which stands for ‘Software as a Service’. Any software that allows people to log on and use it to solve a problem falls under SaaS.
Now you may not think some as simple as having a tool to submit music to multiple music sites such as SoundCloud and Spotify is a solution, but it is. You are using the tool to solve the time involved with having to manually submit the music. The same tools also help you get your music heard by professionals working in the music industry so they can give you real-life feedback on how to improve.
Other SaaS systems that are famous include Netflix. It solves the issue of having to find a series on multiple websites. Instead, Netflix puts all the movie in one place. It is perhaps a very oversimplified explanation or example of SaaS but this is exactly what Netflix does.
Ok, so a better example would let’s say eBay. You want to buy or sell goods. eBay gives you’re the platform to list your products and sell them while you can also buy products. On top of this, you probably use SaaS-based financial systems to make payments or receive money such as eWallets like PayPal.
Perfectionists and Creative Software Tools
Without the emergence of creative software, we would not have video games, animations, and the huge number of illustrations spread across the World Wide Web. Today graphic designer, sound engineers, motion editors, and animation experts have a much easier job creating artwork, (let’s call it artwork because it is), thanks to the evolution of the software used to help these designers create their masterpieces.
Now to cut to chase let’s explain it by using sound as an example. We can create sound and upload it. This is especially useful if you are creating custom music for a game, video, or website, and even more important if you are a musician – maybe a singer, a guitarist, or classic instrument player. Now you can upload the sound and modify it using sound engineering software, however, the sound may still need a few tweaks. That’s’ where audio mastering comes into the picture.
Audio mastering will run the sounds or music through its software, automatically spot deficiencies in the sound and fix them for you. Sometimes you do not even need any sound engineering tweaks, and there are plenty of musicians out there that have no idea how to tweak music using software which is exactly why ‘Audio Mastering’ has become an important tool for those that upload sound and music.
Now, the same concept is used for video editing, animations, and even graphic design today. In the past, a designer or editor would need to fix these issues manually slowing down the design to release phases, or production process if you will.
Today that is not the case and these experts in their field can now speed up not just the processes leading from concept to release but it also speeds up the way they operate their business as they can produce higher quality content than the past at a faster rate than the past!
Virtual Reality
VR may not be in our homes yet and that is likely because there is not an affordable way to introduce VR as a mass consumer model at this time. To experience VR and for it to become a household necessity like PCs, the internet, and even your microwave, VR needs a ‘reason’. One of the biggest problems with VR is the movement side of it. People need space to move around and the equipment to give people that feeling of motion is expensive.
If you have tried VR roller coasters or theme park VR arcade machines, then you will probably understand what we mean. Those machines, much like arcade games in the past, are specifically designed for that single theme part ride. The challenge now is to convert these VR machines into something we can use at home and something that is within the boundaries of consumer pricing.
The other limitation, which will not be a limitation for long is internet speeds. Our data speeds have only just caught up with the online gaming tech and large file transfer we use the internet for daily. The internet now also carries the majority of our telephone calls. Add the mass adoption of VR to this, and it could all begin to slow down again – but with 5G and superfast fibre being installed globally, this is only a small hurdle to overcome for VR tech.
What Does the Future Hold?
We will likely see a huge shift in technology trends as we are due one. We shifter to PCs, then laptops. The next shift was from analogue to digital with the birth of the internet. We also went from landlines to mobile phones which of course turned into smartphones and tablets. It seems we are now stuck and stalemate. As technology has taught us, nothing is impossible. The thought of smartphones 20 years ago seemed impossible, but here they are.
Our prediction is the mass introduction of virtual reality. It will change the way we listen to music, play games, and see the world. VR can also adapt to technologies such as blockchain ecosystems which will process the VR data faster and more efficiently over the internet. And with the latest global pandemic and lack of travel, VR could be the new way to travel and see the world without leaving your living room. Who knows, we may even be living inside our very own virtual reality soon!
