Final Session- Group Project Presentation 2

I attended the final lesson with a relaxed mind today as my group and I finished our presentation last week. It was a great end to the TWC course as I felt encouraged by the amount of hard work my classmates put in for their presentations. We have certainly come a long way from the first session as the class now looks at technology under a whole new perspective. We are now able to access the impacts of current forms of technology, and forecast future forms of technology that might arise in time to come. 


The first group talked about tablet technology and its future implications. It is possible that tablet technology might become a disruptive innovation in the laptop industry. There exists a future whereby keyboards could be totally done away with. With new forms of technology, virtual keyboards might exist in the form of holograms. Just look at this concept of the future iPhone, it totally brings out the possibility of the hologram keyboard in the future.



The next group shared with us about a really interesting topic. Beauty and technology. Has technology served to enhance beauty or has it actually given us a warped perception of beauty? In the past, wearing corsets in Europe and the binding of feet of China were all enabled by technology and they were considered beautiful at that time. In retrospect, we see the clear disadvantages of these forms of beauty as they have adverse effects on health. Furthurmore, these forms of beauty aren't really beautiful anymore.


In other parts of the world, current forms of beauty exists today that modern society might view otherwise. In areas such as Changmai in Thailand, there currently exists female village people who lengthen their necks as it is a form of beauty. The longer their necks, the more beautiful they are perceived to be. 

                 Taken from http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Thailand/North/Chiang_Mai/Village_of_North/photo896982.htm

If we look at issues closer to home, plastic surgery immediately comes into our minds. People of all shapes and sizes go for plastic surgery in order to look more beautiful. Beauty is commonly portrayed in magazines and celebrities are usually described as beauty. They are tall, slim, and have the perfect figure. Society's perception of beauty has led to many people resorting to medical processes like rhinoplasty and liposuction to make them look more beauty. So has technology actually helped us achieve beauty or has it given us a skewed perception of beauty through media and plastic surgery?


It might be possible that since good looks would be easily achievable in the future, the way to define beauty would be by our character. People would be considered beautiful only if they are kind, caring and sincere. This is the way that I feel beauty should be defined currently. Why wait till the future? As the saying goes, beauty is skin deep!


Another group gave a very interesting presentation about technology and politics. The presentation involved a skit at the very beginning and it focused on politics in the local scene. Their presentation highlighted the use of media in the previous GE 2011. A local politician accused another politician of having a gay agenda after knowing that he was actually gay. Some people felt that this was a move of mixing one's personal life into politics, while others felt that it might be true. Another local politician became widely criticized on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter as the general public thought that she was incompetent and childish. 


Technology has allowed users to become more informed about our politicians and serves as a platform for us to express our views. However, this might work both ways. We might get well reasoned thoughts or totally useless and immature views on the political scene in Singapore.


Here is a video that shows one of our president candidates, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, singing a song to better connect with voters in Singapore:



Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the final lesson, and it has been a wonderful journey thus far as I have learnt a lot from this course. I would give this lesson a 10/10. Time study for the final exams! Have a great day people!


Lenard

Session 11- Group Project Presentation 1 :)

During this session, we had the project presentation by 4 groups, and I am glad that my group was one of them. I feel relieved that our presentation is over! So what's left of our project would be to make some minor changes to our website. Overall, I must say that this course has given us a lot of knowledge and I now look at the world with a different lens. Technology is all around us, it is basically, the application of knowledge into our daily lives. It was a refreshing experience to see the other groups present and relate technology to their specific area of focus. 


My group's area of focus was the impact of technology in the food technology in the future. We first looked at the historical timeline of food and explored how it has progressed through time. From hunting and gathering, man moved to farming and subsequently, introduced new technologies in the production of food such as drying, freezing and the canning of food. Currently, food can be processed in massive amounts and our website looks at the current situation of mass production and food processing. Ever wondered how chicken nuggets and beef patties are made? 

Besides our focus on commercial food processing, we also looked at a very popular topic in society today. Genetically modified food, as the name suggests, is food that has been modified to pass on beneficial traits to them. This might include bigger and more healthy looking fruits, or rice that has additional vitamins in them. We discussed whether GM food should be labelled or not, and what its impacts are on society today.

Looking at the issues we have in society, we then forecasted what the future might hold for food technology. The possibilities are really exciting! Imagine if 3D food printing could be taken to the next level and the food printer might become a commodity for all of us. We could print food on the fly with just the click of a button. We are able to customize the exact portions that we want and mix different colours and flavours together in our food. The picture below shows a flower that  has been printed and deep fried. This reminds me of the noodle snacks we used to eat with seasoning when I was young. They were called Mamee!

 

Also, ever wondered if we could take the idea of meal replacements further? What if one pill could meet all our demands for a meal? My group showed this video to the class and we called this future innovation the bubble gum meal. You might think that might not be possible and that its just science fiction. However, as we learnt in class, if you can think of it, anything is possible!

In retrospect, I feel that using the web as a medium to educate others and to share our views is a great idea. As society becomes more IT savvy, the internet is almost accessible to everyone now and it has far reaching benefits. I must thank my group members as they were really proficient in editing the website. I feel that the website is beautiful! Check it out here!


http://www.wix.com/wyt_91/foodforfuture

Overall, I had a good experience this week as I have greatly benefited from all the sharing by the groups. Ecotech shared about eco-technology in our world today, and how companies like Starbucks are practicing eco-friendly habits. I also learnt more about photography as another group shared about technology in photography. I could draw a parallel to what they were talking about as I would be covering the topic of digital photography in my individual topical review report. Techmerce also covered the area of e-commerce in the future. What if we eliminated the need for shopping in shopping centers in the future and everything can be purchased online? I believe that this is likely to occur in the future as I do patronize online websites and make occasional purchases when the need calls for it. :)


Alright, time to end this and work on my individual review paper! The submission date is just next week! See you!


Lenard

Air Swimmers

This shows how technology has affected the toys that are now produced. I find this really cute!

Session 10- Technology Assessment and Forecasting; Developing a Framework for Understanding What Comes Next

This session explored how the concept of technology assessment and forecasting. As the rate of improvements in technology is increasing at an exponential rate, it is important to assess and forecast the impacts of future technology. It is important that we know the what impacts (social, political, environmental or ethical) a new technology might bring about. By accessing the impacts that different forms of technologies, we are able to prioritize and decide which type of technology should we invest in. This is because research and development costs for new technology is very expensive and a wrong investment might cause an entire company to go bust. For example, Toshiba invested heavily the the HD-DVD format and released many products that were HD-DVD compatible. However, it soon conceded that its HD-DVD format has lost the war against the Blu-Ray format that was produced by Sony. Toshiba had to spend more money to release new products that were Blu- Ray compatible. In addition, the costs that Toshiba incurred in researching the HD-DVD format did not bring about any tangible benefits.

One important concept that I learnt during this session was the difference between sales and marketing. This could lead to the difference between a rising technology and one that is not. Sales refers to just the selling of a product, while marketing refers to the customization and the sale of a product that is catered in such a way to suit the needs of the customer. Sony incorporated its blu-ray discs into its Playstation consoles and had a wider market share as more customers were using the Blu- Ray discs.


We were introduced to a video called the top 3 inventions of the future. They introduced Nokia's Morph Handphone, Google Earth and Salt Water Fuel. The Morph is basically an extension of what I blogged about last week, imagine if electronics could become flexible. Nokia's morph is able bend and is extremely hydrophobic, meaning that it would be extremely dirt resistant. Here's a video to tell you more about the Nokia Morph:






The saltwater fuel was also another piece of breakthrough technology. I feel that this form of technology can change the world! The global energy crisis is in dire need for an energy source and salt might just be the answer! It is in abundance in the saltwater oceans around the world!


During class, Prof also introduced the concept of Strategic Foresight to us. This basically involves studying the needs of the future and looking into how a business or organisation can move towards their intended target. Rather than looking at what they are now, Prof told us about the "blank paper analogy". Companies should look at what they want to be in the future, forecasting their goals, targets and key performance indicators. They should then look at the present- what they have and what is stopping them from achieving those goals. After identifying those limiting factors, companies should then change their internal process, eliminating all limiting factors so that they are able to meet the goals that they have set for themselves.


So why do we need to forecast the future? By forecasting, we are able to use the results in policy recommendation as well as to analysis the trends and drivers of change. By predicting what the market would be like in the future, companies are able to design and produce products in advance to meet the market demands in the future. To take things to a different level, innovative companies can choose to invent the future. This means to create a supply even though there is no demand.


Overall, I felt that this was a good conclusion to the lessons learnt throughout all the TWC lessons. We now know that by forecasting technological impacts in the future, we are able to be better prepared for the changes that are bound to happen. However, I feel that forecasting can be a risky business as well, as we will never know what the future brings. Nevertheless, I would give this lesson an 8/10!




Lenard

Session 9- Emerging and future technologies

I felt that this session was very open ended and there were many interesting ideas discussed. I realised that the only thing that limits the level of technology in the future would be our own imagination. As Albert Einstein says, " imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand" We might have a lot of knowledge, but we all need a sense of imagination to apply the knowledge and take technology to greater heights. Children are always bursting with imagination. They want to fly, go to the moon, or even live under the sea. They believe that all this is possible as there is no limit to the imagination that they have. However, as time goes by, children grow up and they go to school in a bid to increase their knowledge. They learn the norms of society and know that it is not possible to fly or that it is very expensive to travel in space. Most of us are now limited by the knowledge that we have, and we are afraid to think big as we are afraid of failure. If we still viewed issues with child like imagination, I believe our world would have been a very different place by now.

We were introduced to the concept of plastic electronics. Imagine if electronics could become flexible, if they could be bent and manipulated in whatever way we wanted. We could have ipads and laptops that could be fold-able and be put into a small bag. This would revolutionize the entire electronic industry.

In the future, e readers such as the one pictured can be folded like a conventional newspaper and brought where ever we go!

The kind of technology that will be developed in the world would depend on the different drivers of world change. These drivers can be market driven (summit opportunities) and there is a current demand for a certain technology to be created. Emerging companies are encouraged to invest in developing these kind of technology as there is a guaranteed market for that form of technology. On the other hand, scientific research and development can create technology driven industries, and these are called cloud opportunities. Companies with sufficient capital can choose to invest in these as there is a possibility of a strong market for these technologies. We also know that sometimes, technology can defy the laws of economics. Supply can sometimes create demand when society is introduced to a form of technology that they are convinced they need. For example, the world never knew the need for tablet technology, but when Apple released the iPads, it was an instant hit with the masses. People realised that the device helped to make lives more convenient and had many benefits to the user. 

Robots and machines would be changing our way of life in the future. During the session, Prof shared with us about the concept of creating a "perfect" woman". There are men in society who have not been able to get attached as they are unable to find the perfect partner to suit their character, style, and personality. Researchers have come out and designed a "perfect woman" to be a perfect companion. Personally, I find this rather queer because i cannot imagine a human falling in love with a robot. A robot is not a person as everything has been pre-programmed. This is only a short term solution of filling up the empty space in the heart of a man. Furthurmore, I think that it would be very tough for society to accept the idea of humans falling in love with machines and even marrying and starting a family with them. This is a good example of technology being limited by society's concerns. 

As the rate at which technology is improving is constantly increasing, there exists an idea called technology singularity. Technological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. (Wikipedia 2011) In layman terms, this refers to the future whereby technology is so advanced till we ourselves are unable to comprehend and control technology. Possible causes of this singularity would include artificial intelligence, human biological enhancement or brain-computer interfaces.  (Wikipedia 2011) There is no known solution if this idea of singularity becomes a real problem for us to solve in the future. It is therefore important that mankind takes the effort to regulate the growth of technology and ensure that we are always one step ahead and able to control the technology we have. The advancement of technology might have negative impacts on society as well. Imagine if the development of artificial intelligence might result in robot workers in the future. This would eliminate the need for human workers in the factory line and all these workers would be out of job. It is therefore a challenge to deal with the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy.

The presentations during this session was a real eye opener. I realised that there is actually a possibility of developing a cure for AIDS. Yunting shared that a man diagnosed with both HIV and leukemia survived as he received bone marrow from a donor that had a resistance to HIV. Imagine if scientists could replicate the properties of the bone marrow, it would be likely that we might see a cure in 10-20 years time. 

Overall, this was a very informative session as I learnt that the future has no possibilities and is limited only by our imagination. Then again, it is important to control the rate at which technology advances to prevent a world that is ruled by technology in the future. However, I felt that we could discuss more about avant-garde technology like invisibility, time travel, teleportation, having an avartar for everyone, and even being able to fly. Are these just figments of our imagination or are they possible in the future? I would rate this lesson an 8/10.

Lenard

Session 8- Energy and World Change: Past, Present, Future

I used to think that USA was the greatest culprit in the world for consuming too much. I found myself proven wrong during this session as I found out that Singapore was not far behind in our rate of consumption. China and India uses about 50-60% less than USA and Singapore and it is possible that as their society becomes more affluent, they might consume more and have large increases in energy requirements. This is why China is the #1 investor in green technology, about twice as much as USA. I feel that this is a smart move by China as they are looking towards the needs of the future and long term issues that they might face in the years to come. Another forward looking country would be Brazil, as it is a great producer of cane based sugar in the world.

I also feel that one of the pressings issues that our society is facing today would be to make energy available to the poor. This form of energy would have to be easy to transport and cheap. Everyone in the world deserves the right to have a steady source of energy to make their lives easier and better. It is heartening to know that there is already a solar powered fridge and biomass stove made available to developing countries today. People in these countries are able to keep food for longer period of times and cook food using biomass. This is definitely a move in the right direction but we can do much more! The earth gets all its energy from the sun, and if we could find a way of trapping all that energy and transfer it to those who are in need, then the world would be a better place for all.

Another interesting fact that I learnt in lesson would be that the sun provides more energy to the Earth in one hour than humankind currently uses in one entire year. I used to think that fossil fuels  released the most energy but I never took into account that the sun was the biggest producer of the energy, and that the best way to harvest this would be to use solar panels as it has a lot more potential to trap energy. Imagine if entire deserts and barren lands were covered with solar panels so trap energy. If new innovations to store energy are invented, I would dare to say that the energy crisis might be solved. Photovoltaics cells is the way to go! In an urban environment, buildings can be made of these cells and the energy collected from the sun can be used to offset the energy consumption of the entire building. It is interesting to know that Germany is a champion of solar energy and it does that by providing cash incentives to its population to sell their energy back to the grid. This makes it a worthy investment and many people choose to invest in this and it helps to make Germany a greener country. This is a in line with Europe's vision of achieving 20% renewable energy by 2020. I personally feel that this is possible and I believe that Europe can achieve even more than 20% if every country models Germany's system. The European Union already implements carbon taxes to prevent it's emission and subsequently, global warming.

In this session, we talked about the burning platform. What would it take for the world's leaders to realize that our way of living is unsustainable and that we should all promote renewable sources of energy. The problem that we face now is that many people look at the situation from a short term perspective and focus more on economic benefit. Fossil fuels are easy to harvest and they don't see a need to switch to renewable energy sources. This is because a switch might cost a lot more money, time, effort, and is likely to meet a lot of opposition. For example, I learnt that offshore wind turbines not only cost money, but there are groups of people against it for the fear that it kills migrating birds, affects the property prices in the area due to an "unnatural" view of the sea, and even due to superstition. We fail to realize the conversion to renewable energy sources is necessary as time is running out. So when will world leaders realize this? Only when we run out of fossil fuels? I feel that it would be too late by then.

During the presentations, I learnt that man could harness energy from man-made tornadoes. The tornado is created in a device due to the difference in temperature between hot air and cold air. It is controlled by the machine and energy is harvested from the tornado. If the world runs out of options, this might be the way to go. Though there might be concerns that the tornado might go out of control.

Another interesting field of development would be the research on antimatter. Before the presentation, I never new such a technology with immense potential existed. 

As mentioned in the video, antimatter is the opposite of matter and it releases an immense amount of energy when it collides with matter. It is currently being used to power spaceships and this could be the solution to all our energy shortages. If antimatter is indeed develop, we do not need to worry about energy anymore. However, concerns have been raised as to the safety of this technology, as a large energy is produced, there is a potential of people getting hurt in the process. Another concern is the immense amount of money needed to generate antimatter. Is it a worthy investment? Well, only time will tell.


In my opinion, I really enjoyed this lesson as it gave me a much clearer perspective on this topic. Furthurmore, there was a special guest during class and he gave wonderful insights of his job in the renewable wind turbine energy in Siemens. Not only do I know about the issues faced by the world, I also know what is going on in the industry today. I would give this lesson a 9.5/10.

Individual Topical Review Paper Outline (Digital Photography)

Here's my draft for the topical review paper, do let me know if you have any ideas or improvements that I can make to this report. 

Thanks!

Executive Summary

This paper includes a brief history of the camera and discusses the impacts that digital photography has in our world today. It outlines the clear advantages of digital photography by comparing it to the time when we only had film photography, and looks at the future potential of this technology in this industry.

Introduction

Digital photography refers to a form of photography that uses light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film. It is then stored as a digital file ready for digital processing, viewing or printing. This is unlike conventional film photography as there is no form of chemical processing involved.

The invention of digital photography is a disruptive technology as it has changed our lives and the entire industry. This has led to a low demand for film cameras. Kodak has already phased out its film cameras in developed countries and is currently facing financial difficulties with its shares recently plunging 54%. Digital cameras, on the other hand have outsold film cameras since 2002 and the 2010 predicted figures for sales was a staggering 109.9 million units.

Film cameras used to be a common asset in society before the era of digital cameras. I still remember waiting some time before I could see the pictures taken during a family holiday overseas. After returning back to Singapore, we had to send the photos to be developed before they could be viewed. The invention of digital photography brought about many new advantages and innovations. Taking pictures was easier, there was not a need for film, and we could see the image immediately after taking the picture!

Historical Perspective

The First Camera

It all started in 1727 when Johann Heinrich Schulze discovered that silver nitrate darkened upon exposure to light, and that photographic images could be captured and stored. The discovery led to the subsequent invention of rolled photographic film and the box camera in 1888 by George Eastman, an avid photographer and the eventual founder of the Eastman Kodak Company. The invention of the photographic film meant that multiple images could be developed and there was no need to develop the image immediately after it was taken.

"You press the button, we do the rest" promised Eastman in 1888 with this marketing slogan for his patented Kodak camera. The box camera entered the market with enough preloaded film for 100 shots. It could be handheld during operation and proved to be both easy to operate and carry around. After the 100 shots were taken, the camera had to be brought back to the Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, where new film was inserted, and the current film developed and photos returned to the customer. This might seem to be a hassle for consumers at that time as their images could only be developed at one location. Furthurmore, no more pictures could be taken until the camera was serviced and new film added into the Kodak Camera.

The Brownie and the 35mm Film Camera

In 1900, Eastman took film photography to the next level by introducing the Brownie Camera. It was the first camera that underwent mass- market production and was made widely available to the general public. This was a simple handheld camera that gained popularity also because of its low price. The Brownie was widely used by the public and it introduced the concept of the snapshot.

However, it was only till 1925 when the first 35mm film camera was developed. The 35mm film camera Leica 1, developed by Leica, became very popular and subsequently led to the production of many other 35mm film cameras, with the Retina 1 from Kodak becoming 1 of them. Changes in design and technology ultimately led to conventional film cameras being made available to the public in the 20^th Century.

The Digital Camera

The first attempt in creating a digital camera was in 1975 by Steven Sasson, an engineer at Eastman Kodak Company. It used the then-new solid-state Charge- Coupled Device and took 23 second to capture its first image. However, the prototype camera was a technical exercise, and it was not intended for production. This was a bad move by the Kodak Company as it did not give them the first-mover advantage but instead allowed other companies to capitalize on the invention instead.

Soon enough, Sony came out with the first electronic camera called the Sony Mavica in 1981 which recorded videos in floppy disk format. The first true digital camera was likely the Fuji DS-1P produced in 1988, which recorded to a 16 MB internal memory card that used a battery. The move to recording pictures and videos in digital formats was helped by the formation of the first JPEG and MPEG standards in 1988, which allowed image and video files to be compressed for storage.

Advantages of Digital Photography vs Film Photography

Instant Gratification

Under film photography, to view the image captured, the film needed to undergo a series of chemical processes in order for it to be developed and the photograph viewed. This meant that photographers could not view the image immediately after it was taken and they had to depend on their gut feeling or resort to taking multiple pictures to ensure that they got the perfect shot. This was a waste of time and resources, as additional film was used to take multiple pictures. If the photograph turned out to be substandard, the same conditions would have to be recreated again to get the same shot. This might be very difficult as not all events could be recreated.

With digital photography, the image captured could be immediately shown on the camera screen. This allows the photographer to determine whether the shot is to his liking. If not, he can choose to edit the settings of the camera such as lighting, exposure or angle to produce the perfect shot. This means that we need not be worried about how our pictures would turn out as we already have full control over them.

No Developing Needed

The fact that photographs needed to be developed before it could be viewed, printed, or published meant that there was a time-constrain that film photographers faced. This was a major problem especially for news journalists who needed to get their photos published as soon as possible to ensure timely delivery of the latest news to the public. This problem resulted in news reporters bringing their own mini photo labs, developing the photos on the spot and finding a way to transmit the images through telephone lines to the news room for publishing. Although this helped to shorten the time lapse that they faced, it did not solve the issue completely. People without their own photo labs had to resort to their pictures being developed by an external studio which wasted a lot of time.

On the other hand, digital photography allowed the images to be printed from a photo printer immediately after the shot was taken, thus saving valuable time. News journalists could view their photos and send them wirelessly through email or MMS via a hand-phone. There was now no need for a long chemical process of photo development to produce our photos when we can just enter a shop and print the shots directly, it would be even faster if we have printers at home, enabling us to do the job in the comfort of our homes.

Versatility

Photos produced from film cameras could not be edited. This meant that there was a fixed end product and no manipulation could be made after the shot was taken. Furthurmore, film came in fixed ISO settings. ISO refers to how sensitive a film is to light, and can range from the 100 to even 1600. This meant that the only way to change the ISO settings of the picture was to change the film entirely. For example, a photographer would have to change his entire roll of film when the weather changes from a sunny day to a cloudy day and this was certainly a hassle for them.

Digital photography brought about a whole new era as there is now a photo editing industry which caters to post production of pictures. Companies like Adobe have capitalized on this and their photo editing software, Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular in the industry today. Pictures can be modified to the way we want it to be and its versatility knows no bounds. A colour picture can be modified to become a black and white photograph, colours and contrast can be enhanced, we can reduce the red-eye effect we get in pictures, and there is even anti shake technology in digital cameras to ensure that we do not get blurry images. All these were previously not possible with film photography and this goes to show how versatile digital photography has become.

Cost

Although film cameras had a relatively low initial cost, avid photographers faced the issue of increasing costs for every photo taken. Film had to be purchased for every shot taken and it could not be reused. This meant that there was wastage whenever a photo was taken but turned out to be unsuitable and hence not developed. Besides the cost of film, photographers also had to pay developing fees whenever they chose to develop their pictures. All in all, film photography is a more expensive option in the long run.

Digital cameras, though having a higher start-up cost, proves to be more cost effective in the long run. There is no film required and photos need not be developed unless there is an absolute need to. Thus, there is virtually zero additional cost whenever a picture is taken. A photographer can take as many shots as he wants and as long as he does not print the pictures out, there is no cost involved. The decrease in prices of digital cameras due to it becoming increasingly available in markets today goes to show that digital cameras have a lower cost in the long run.

Storage

The film in cameras was bulky and a normal film camera could only store the specific number of images that was inside the film at any point in time. Once all the shots were taken, the film had to be changed. Besides this, film had the tendency to degrade and fade. This would affect the original picture and its quality could deteriorate after time. Developed photographs also took up space and there is a considerable amount of effort needed to have a proper storage and archiving system for developed photographs. Film photography was not space efficient and it proved to be a tedious task to retrieve a single photograph from an entire archive of photo albums.

With technology such as storage cards and devices, digital cameras can now store a large number of images. For example, a Kingston 8GB card can store up to 3800 6-megapixel JPEG images. A considerably large number when compared to the normal 12, 24 and 36 exposures in conventional 35mm film. Also, the quality of photos stored in digital format will never decrease unlike films. Digital photographs can be stored and backed up to be used later without any risk of its quality becoming compromised. Photographs stored in digital format take up very little space as compared to developed photographs. Thousands of images can be stored in the computer and organized into different folders and dates. This would make searching for a particular image fast and effective as we can make use of the search engine to help us.

Digital Photography In Our World Today

Environmental Impacts

The invention of digital photography helped to save our natural resources and this led to it becoming a more sustainable choice compared to film photography. The chemical process of developing film in the average colour photo lab uses a lot of water. Water is used to clean the chemicals off the test prints as well as photographic film. It is also present in the developer, bleach and fixer. Water is not only used in the process of photo development, it is also used in the production of film and paper. When we use film and paper during photo development, we are indirectly using water too. The digital revolution also brought about a lower dependency on the harmful chemicals involved in photo development which will result in a lesser amount being disposed into the environment.

A large amount of paper is also saved as there is a great decrease in photo development now that the pictures we take can be digitally stored, viewed and printed from our devices. Although printing pictures does indeed waste ink and paper, most of the pictures we have now are digitally stored rather than printed out and this is still a positive effect on the environment. With a lower amount of paper, water, and chemicals used in our world today, we are indirectly saving electricity and energy sources. Think about all the fuels needed to transport paper and film from one place to another and the energy needed to clean and transport the water to photo labs.

There is a potential negative environmental impact when we consider the use of batteries in digital cameras. The digital revolution has resulted in a large number of digital cameras being purchased by the world today. All cameras use batteries as their power source and this might led to negative effects on the environment. Digital cameras have high consumption of power and resources are wasted to create batteries and batteries might cause a greater hazard if they are disposed in the wrong way. However, it is important to note that many of the batteries of digital cameras are now rechargeable and this is environmentally friendly.

Overall, digital photography has a net positive impact on the environment as fewer resources are used up when compared to film photography.

Social Impacts

The invention of digital photography has led to the massive downsizing of the film photography industry. Industry giants like Kodak and Fujifilm have aligned their business strategy to adapt to this change. These giants are now tapping into the large market potential for digital photography and have come out with digital cameras and products. However, film photography is still used in our society today though at a much smaller scale than before. It is now a niche market and it is usually the film enthusiasts who constitute the demand. Vintage film cameras are still being used today as it gives the users the experience of living life as it was in the past. Instant cameras are also in demand as the film is printed immediately from the camera after the shot is taken. This is a unique feature of instant cameras and it has created a specialised market for itself. Brands such as the iconic Polaroid and Fujifilm are the main drivers in this specialised market.

The increase in the use of the internet, email and subsequently, social media has led to many photographic images being stored in digital formats. Internet photo-sharing websites like Photobucket and Flickr are used by many around the world today to share their pictures online. Digital photographs are also widely used in social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. For example, Facebook allows the user to upload photo albums and tag friends in pictures. These photographs are now used as a means of connecting people together in the context of a social platform. Twitter allows users to share the latest news or shout-outs with ‘followers’ and sometimes, this can be in the form of pictures. Celebrities sometimes upload a picture of themselves on Twitter and this is now one of the ways of communicating with fans.

Though digital photography has it clear benefits, there are some negative impacts on society as well. The widespread storing of photographs in digital formats has led some to think that photographs have lost its sentimental value. Printed photographs usually remind us of the memories we had when we took the photo but if everything is now stored on the computer, it is not only until we access these photos before we are reminded of the memories we had. There is also a growing concern from archivists with regards to the transitory nature of digital media. There are many digital formats in which we can store our photographs but there is a risk of them becoming obsolete if the rapid technological advances cause a certain format to be inaccessible by new technology. It is therefore important to constantly backup our photographs and store them in the latest formats available.

The ease of taking pictures and uploading them into the internet has promoted voyeurism and the invasion of one’s privacy. Paparazzi and tabloid newspapers are constantly taking candid photos of celebrities in a bid to increase their popularity with consumers. There have been cases of lawsuits against these agencies for invasion of privacy and they have been fined or forced to agree to a financial settlement by the law. Photos of us can also be taken by random strangers and uploaded online and it is usually to our oblivion as it is so easy to take pictures now with digital photography. The digital era has also led to disturbing and explicit images being made available to the young and society in general. Pornography and violent images can now be accessed through the internet and these can develop vices and addictions in the unsuspecting young in our society today.

Technological Impacts

Digital photography has led to its application in many aspects of our daily life. Digital cameras have become smaller and you can find a digital camera in almost any hand-phone in the market today. Computers and televisions have in built webcams, while some music players and tablets have cameras inside the device as well. Cars have cameras in them to aid in the driver in reversing, while security cameras that record videos in digital formats help to keep our society more safe and secure.

In medicine, digital photography has been used in computed tomography, ultrasound imaging and magnetic resonance imaging; all this would not have been possible if we were still using film photography. Micrographic surgeons are heavily dependent on digital imaging as it allows them to map complex specimens in a specific and accurate fashion. Dermatologists also use digital photographs to access the skin conditions of their patents. In the recent years, the concept of tele-dermatology has been gaining popularity. Patients can now send their doctors a picture of an affected area via email and the image can be accessed from the internet with the condition diagnosed and treatment decided on by the doctor. A digital imaging system has also been developed to diagnose malignant melanoma. By measuring characteristics like thickness and colour of the lesions, this system is able to identify melanoma.

Digital photography has also advanced to a level where we are able to observe an object from a far distance. It is used in satellite imagery to monitor the earth from space. We are able to predict weather patterns, access the environmental health of the earth by obtaining a bird’s eye view of the earth’s forests and oceans, and even find the location of an exact person from space. It is also used in military technology for surveillance purposes and allows fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles to obtain a detailed photograph of the ground under by taking a high resolution photograph with a high level of optical zoom.

Digital photography has also led to digital video production and recording. Consumers can take high definition videos in digital format with their devices and use video editing software to edit their videos. Advancements in technology have allowed us to record and view videos in 3D and this relates to a totally new experience for consumers. Pixar also introduced its first digital imaging processor in 1985 and this has led to more advanced video editing in the movie industry. Animated movies are now possible as everything can now be created and stored in digital format.

Future considerations- What it would be like in the future

Smaller and Better

As technology advances, we are bound to reap its fruits by having smaller and better cameras. The physical size and weight of cameras would decrease while the qualities of the camera, such as megapixels and exposure levels, will increase. The world’s smallest camera can rest on our finger and it has a 2 megapixel sensor and can even take videos. With cameras becoming more attractive as we progress, digital cameras will become more widespread and cheaper as it becomes an essential part of a consumer’s life. The rise of cloud computing could bring about a picture storage system that does not require any more storage devices to be inserted into the camera. What if multimedia taken could be stored directly in the cloud and can be accessed from any device at any time?

New Products and Innovations

Advancements in technology could lead to new products and innovations to be created. 3D video and photography are already being developed in the market today, and there is a possibility that there might be a 4D or 5D camera made available to the consumer market in the near future. Touchscreen cameras are already available in our society today and it is possible that the camera can become fully voice activated in the future. By recognizing our voice, the camera is automatically able to respond to our voice commands and there is no need for us to manually adjust the settings. There might be another way to store our memories in the future without the need for pictures or videos. Could we store an entire memory into a handheld device in the future? We can re-access the memory anytime we want and it is as though we are back in time reliving that particular memory. This might prove to be another form of disruptive innovation and might eliminate the need for digital cameras altogether.

Human Augmentation

Ever wondered if we could enhance our bodies with rapidly enhancing technology? Humans currently have prosthetic legs and arms to help them with their disability. What if we could take this to a whole new level? There currently exists a filmmaker, Rob Spence, who has a wireless digital camera embedded in one of eyes. He lost one of his eyes in an accident and decided to replace it so that he could make movies all the time, just by looking around. The potential for this technology is so much greater than that. It is worth considering that one day, we might have advanced so far in technology that we are able to implant digital cameras in our perfectly functioning eyes. The camera can be attached to our nerves in the brain so that we can take a picture or video just by thinking about it in our heads. This would mean that cameras are a part of our body and we can bring it with us without any hassle.

Conclusion

Digital photography has indeed been a disruptive innovation and film industries have been forced to adapt to these changes by creating a niche market for film cameras and instant photography. Those who fail to adapt and refuse to change will be left behind as there are much more benefits in using digital photography as mentioned above. Cameras will become smaller, better and more accessible to all. This might require regulations to prevent the abuse of digital photography and safeguard privacy. Society needs to be educated to understand the dangers of digital content in the internet and social media. With technology rapidly advancing, we are bound to see many more innovations in the digital photography industry. The possibilities are endless and it is exciting to know what the future holds for digital photography. However, this industry must never be complacent as with technological progress, there might be new game changes and disruptive innovations that will force the industry to adapt to the change or be left behind.