A Timeline Race Through Technology
On a warm Sunday evening, the Wilsons gathered around the dinner table. Everyone was there, except Adam, their 16-year-old teenager. Mike Wilson asked about his son. To which Adam's siblings replied that he was not back yet. Mike exchanged glances with Rebecca.
Their son was pretty late. Mike put on his trainers and went out and about, searching for Adam, knocking around doors, and running around the neighborhood. Mike then decided to drive to the soccer field. He knows Adam enjoys playing soccer. Mike had one problem: he does not know the way to the soccer field.
Mike had to do several laps around town before deciding to ask several passers-by about directions. By the time he got back home, he had found Adam and the rest of the family waiting for him. Almost an hour has passed since he went on his search. Dinner was already cold. Rebecca had to put it back in the oven to reheat it. Sounds familiar? Only if you're in the '80s! Let's forward the scene and take a leap into the 21st century.
The Wilsons would have simply called Adam on the phone. Mike would have used the GPS to drive to the soccer field, and Rebecca used the microwave to reheat the food. Life in the 21st century is definitely much easier! The difference lies in nine letters: Technology.
Technology and the Internet have turned our world on its head. It has transformed communications to the point where it is now our preferred mode of communication daily. We utilize the Internet in practically every aspect of our lives. Examples are ordering pizza, purchasing a television, sharing a moment with a buddy, and sending a photo over instant messaging. Before the Internet, if you wanted to keep up with the news, you had to go down to the newsstand first thing in the morning and buy a local edition reporting on the previous day's events. Today, it only takes a few clicks to read your local newspaper, as well as any news from anywhere in the world1.
More than 4.4 billion people currently use the Internet and all the applications and technologies supported by it.
Collectively, we2:
- Upload 4 million hours of video to YouTube
- Send over 682 million tweets
- Post more than 67 million Instagram pictures
- Collectively create 2.5 exabytes (2.5 million terabytes or 1 billion gigabytes) of data
A Timeline Race Through Technology in the Workplace3
The 1960s. Workplace technology was not highly prevalent. DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), a computer semiconductor that revolutionized processing capability, was introduced in 1967 but didn't significantly impact businesses until years later. As more families acquired access to televisions and phones, the way people interacted was altering, but companies still faced challenges. The lack of communication tools and infrastructure restricted where organizations could do business.
The 1970s. Even after the introduction of email in 1971, the impact of technology on the workplace remained unchanged because most large firms were too concerned with income to experiment with new technologies. However, this decade saw a surge in technological innovation with discoveries like the daisy-wheel printer, floppy disc, and Pong, the first video game. Xerox invented Ethernet (which is currently the most extensively used local area networking (LAN) technology in the world) in 1973, which was the most significant invention of all.
The 1980s. Technology in the workplace eventually started to gain traction with tech behemoths like IBM, Microsoft, Apple, and AT&T. The laptop was conceived in 1981, while the Motorola DynaTAC 800x, the world's first cell phone, was released in 1983. Organizations were now able to grow their business beyond their physical region thanks to these new communication tools.
The 1990s. Technology was available by the 1990s rolled around, thanks to the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1989. Companies can now utilize the Internet to promote their products and services while keeping in touch with their customers. Due to geographic constraints, they could also identify and communicate with other suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors that they previously couldn't. With the invention of Google in 1998, this became even easier.
The 2000s. Google was now utilized regularly by both businesses and people all around the world. The Apple iPod and iPhone development took place, while social media sites like Myspace and Facebook emerged. These breakthroughs ushered in a new era of online access to everyone and everything. Consumers could now search and contact businesses that may help them solve their problems, even if they weren't close by. At the same time, companies were able to do customer research to better sell to them and build products that met their deeper requirements.
The 2010s. Welcome to the twenty-first century, when technology has permeated practically every area of people's lives and company activities. As new technologies emerge at a rapid rate, workplace trends and company best practices are constantly changing.
1Zaryn Dentzel, bbvaopenmind, Accessed 20 August 2021, https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/internet-changed-everyday-life/
2Daniel Lohrmann, Government Technology, November 17, 2019, Accessed 20 August 2021, https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/the-internet-looking-back-and-forward-50-years.html
3Protected Trust, May 1, 2020, Accessed 20 August 2021, https://www.protectedtrust.com/technology-in-the-workplace//i>
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