My perspective about IBM's 5 Future Predictions

I wanted to have some inception going on: I'm going to make predictions about IBM's predictions. [Taken from this article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/19/tech/innovation/five-tech-predictions-ibm/] The 5 predictions are as follows: 1. IBM thinks that smarter, more technologically advanced schools can make kids smarter. By "tracking everything a student does," IBM thinks that big data can help "tailor"education for students. I don't see this working for the following reasons: -Although technology is useful, the more dependent we become on it, the lazier we become. -The widespread availability of technology is sometimes a distraction for children. -It's hard for every school district to own this type of technology. -I think children are very smart without this technology as it is, and controlling their lives through technology might actually stifle their development. (It would be sad to become a civilization like that of Wall-E.) 2. In five years, Local retailers will fight back and become "better than e-tailers can ever hope to be," according to IBM. IBM claims that local retailers will take advantage of digital tools to give customers a "richer in-store experience." Although this sounds nice in theory, I doubt that it'll come true, as local retailers struggle to compete with e-tailers. Large corporations may have the means to take advantage of digital tools, but smaller, local retailers have a harder time funding these projects. It is possible, though, for technology to become increasingly cheaper, which would then make it cheaper for both smaller and larger businesses access technology. 3. Doctors will be able to routinely analyze our DNA to give patients individualized treatments. I think this is definitely possible, as medicine receives a lot of funding for research projects. The only thing that I wonder is the extent to which individuals will be able to afford this kind of health care; it doesn't seem likely that everyone will have the resources to receive these specialized DNA check-ups. 4. IBM has a vision for the creation of "digital guardians" that would know our digital life inside and out: they'd track all of our accounts and know our cars, houses, and electronic devices in depth. Instead of relying on passwords or unlocking features, these guardians would be able to analyze "contextual, situational, and historical data to verify your identity and your actions on different devices." This is an incredible idea, and I really hope that it can come to fruition. I don't see it happening on a wide-scale extent in the near future, but definitely in the next few decades, these digital guardians could become essential to our daily lives. There will definitely be prototypes of these digital guardians within the next five years. 5. The last of IBM's predictions is that the "city will help us live in it" by using sensors to adapt to our needs. This is another great idea, but realistically not everyone owns a cellphone, so only the privileged, wealthy individuals may benefit from these kind of mobile-developed sensors, but lower-class individuals may not. Also, by having politicians and city leaders in charge of these resources, there will need to be an extensive check on their usage of these resources to make sure that they don't take advantage of them.

5 Predictions that were Thankfully Ignored

Since the beginning of humanity, there have always been critics of innovation and change. Fortunately, millions of inventors did not let these crtics stop them from developing their ideas, even if the inventors were successful, educated individuals. In fact, the inventors of these 5 particular creations proved these critics wrong. 5. In 1876, an internal memo by Western Union declared that the telephone had "too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication." This couldn't be more wrong: even if the idea of the telephone was not fully developed, the idea in itself was revolutionary. In fact, if developed, it could be of great use to the world of communication. This came into fruition throughout the 20th century. 4. When the President of a bank tells you to do something, it's usually wise to listen to this person, but in the case of Henry Ford's lawyer, he was right to disregard the Michigan Savings Bank President's advice. This bank president claimed that the automobile was only a "novelty, a fad" and that it was surely not there to stay: the horse, on the other hand, was. Although the first automobiles were quite expensive and even dangerous, as they lacked safety regulations and even seat belts, this president's claim was wrong. And it is great that this lawyer did invest in Ford's company, for without his and others' investments into this car company, the car industry may have not reached the wide-scale success that it has in our modern world: today a car is a necessity to most Americans, while owning a horse is more of "a novelty" than car ownership. 3. What Darryl Zanuck, a movie producer from 20th century Fox, failed to consider in 1946, when he said that television wouldn't last because people would "get tried of staring at a plywood box every night," was that the human mind could be very easily entertained by images displayed on wooden boxes, and that if he got tired of the plywood box, man would continue to improve this idea so that he could be less "bored." Zanuck could probably not even begin to fathom the existence of television screens. Fortunately for Fox, millions of viewers around the world don't get tired of staring at their screens for large periods of time and Zanuck was very wrong indeed. 2. Being King of Prussia and all, King William I must have had a lot of free time on his hands, which is probably why he proclaimed in 1864 that "no one" would "pay good money to get from Berlin to Potsdam in one hour" when one could simply "ride his horse there in one day for free." Poor William must not have heard the phrase "time is money," as an entire day of travel could be well spent by an American businessman into making a company millions of dollars. If trains would not have been created, transportation would still be very slow. Moreover, thousands of business men are actually quite willing to "pay good money" to get to their destinations in faster periods of time. 1. The Chairman of IBM in 1943, Thomas Watson was being very near-sighted when he predicted that the world market for computers would be "maybe five computers." He failed to see that the computer in itself was a great idea, and that great ideas can only be improved throughout time. Unfortunately, Watson did not live to see our modern world that is full of computers and computer buyers. The computer has become indispensable to millions of people's lives, which is why I'm glad that IBM ignored Watson's prediction by producing and improving computers.

Slide to Unlock Patent: Simplified

The Slide-to-Unlock patent, also know as the patent for "unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image," is in essence a patent for the ability to unlock our cellphones and other "hand-held electronic" devices. The patent is held by Apple Inc and has 6 inventors. Without this patent, most devices would render our electronic devices defenseless from outside penetration, via our accidental brushing of skin on our phones or other external forces, like robbers.

Claim one of the patent describes the attributes that accompany the slide-to-unlock feature on such electronic devices. It claims that there's a predefined location for the unlock image to appear; that the user will interact with this unlock image, or "interactive user-interface object", to unlock said device; and that the unlock image  is opened through a touch-sensitive display.

The sub-sections of the first claim are that it includes the following: claim one comprises movement along a desired path; this path is "predefined" to a particular unlock region; there may be visual cues as a part of the unlock image in order to "communicate a direction of movement" that is required to unlock the device; these visual cues may include text; and these visual cues also comprise an arrow to indicate a "general direction of movement."

Top 10 Inventions that redefined life for humanity: Part 2

In my opinion, there are 10 particular inventions that dramatically changed life for mankind.

After seeing my classmates 10 inventions, I realized that I left out a few very important creations. My original set included the laptop, telephone, cellphone, and automobile. Although these were also quite important inventions, I chose to replace them with written language, anesthesia, refrigeration, and penicillin, as I now see that these three inventions had a larger impact on humanity than the previous three I had before.

I kept my inventions in historically chronological order. Now that I’ve added written language to the mix, my invention lists spans over a larger period of human history. The progression of man’s innovation has really been quite fascinating!

1. Written Language – The first written language was developed in Mesopotamia in 3200 BC. Written language was detrimental to human history, as it facilitated record keeping for both financial and social interactions, while also making it possible for us to record our present events, aka, what latter generations would refer to as history.

2. The Toilet/Sewage System -  Although notoriously nicknamed the “crapper” because of its improvements by Thomas Crapper, the toilet was actually first invented by an Englishman named John Harrington in 1596. If it weren’t for this brilliant Englishman’s idea, our world may quite literally be full of crap.

3. Electricity - Although William Gilbert is known as the “Father of Electricity,” the actual inventor of electricity was Otto von Guerick, who created a machine that produced static electricity in 1660. Thomas Edison did not invent electricity nor the light bulb, he merely made a better version of the light bulb. Regardless, these men all established the foundation for an idea that would quite literally 

light up the world. Without electricity, thousands of latter inventions may have not been possible.

4. The Steam Engine - Invented in 1698, the steam engine is a technological advancement that lead to future combustion engines and other mechanical innovations. Our modern, high-tech world would be a very different place if the steam engine were never invented. In its time, the steam engine facilitated the industrial revolution, urban development, and transportation. Thanks the steam engine, manufacturing, agriculture, and mining also benefited in efficiency.

5. Anesthesia – Developed in 1846 by John Collins Warren, anesthesia has made surgeries a lot more efficient. Before anesthesia, various medical procedures that were meant to improve one’s health could actually kill us. Anesthesia has definitely increased the life expectancy of individuals undergoing surgery, and on a larger scale, helped advanced medicine and spur other medical creations.

6. The Airplane - Although most of us erroneously credit the Wright brothers with the invention of the airplane, it was actually Richard Pearse who invented the first airplane in 1902. Although his plane only flew for about 350 yards, Pearse’s creation would transform transportation for later generations. The airplane is nidispensible in our world today, as individuals like me would not be able to travel from the OC to SF in a matter of minutes and would not be able to receive important correspondence, such as medications or orders from Amazon.com, if it weren’t for Pearse’s airplane.

7. Refrigeration – In 1805, a brilliant man named Oliver Evans designed the first refrigeration machine.  The refrigerator has also been detrimental to man’s nutritional needs: we can now store our food, transport different types of agricultural products and livestock over long distances without worrying about the food rotting.

8. Penicillin – Created in 1928 by Alexander Flemming, penicillin was the first antibiotic of human history. The creation of penicillin definitely spurred the establishment of future antibiotics. Without antibiotics, many of us would die due to the most trivial of things. A paper cut or diarrheal disease could very much end our lives. Thanks to antibiotics, our life expectancy and ability to fight off diseases have increased tremendously.

9  The Computer - John Mauchly is credited with creating the first computer in 1946. His invention would also become indispensable to humanity, as computers have expanded and improved several areas of human life: technology, education, infrastructure, and entertainment.

10. The Internet - The internet is one technological advancement that has simultaneously helped and harmed humanity. Seemingly a blessing, the internet has allowed billions of people to connect within seconds, to see each other despite miles of separation, and to share all kinds of information without any stamps. Still, the internet has hurt society, as younger generations prefer to communicate online over speaking in person. Whether for better or worse, the creation of the internet is attributed to J. C. R. Licklider, who wanted to create a network of computer systems that could be interconnected so that he could connect 3 separate systems in Santa Monica, UC Berkeley, and MIT in 1958.