high tech living
- Thread starter ritcH
- Start date
Really the only things that have gotten hi tech are trivial ego-fueling consumer items because money is the main motivator in tech development.
I reckon soon when the economy collapses further we will get away from this masturbatory consumerist tech advancement and start moving back towards more utilitarian advances. The consumer mindset will shift away from keeping up with the Jones'.
I reckon soon when the economy collapses further we will get away from this masturbatory consumerist tech advancement and start moving back towards more utilitarian advances. The consumer mindset will shift away from keeping up with the Jones'.
Caporegime
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Wouldn't call the Launchpad that impressive, it's just a matrix of buttons with lights behind, hardly mind blowing.
My life is made easier, safer and longer through the advances in medicine; recombinant blood products and heat treatment. I no longer risk exposure to HIV, Hepatitis C and CJD every time I inject the stuff my body lacks (clotting factor).
To compare to 20 years ago, the UK were sourcing donor blood from the USA (prisoners who were paid for their often contaminated blood) and then extracting plasma without heat treating or batch testing for some pretty deadly diseases. I actually contracted Hep C in '92, but luckily my body fought the virus (coz I'm well'ard!) and now I just test positive for the antibodies. A childhood friend received a batch (meant for me, but he needed it sooner) with HIV, suffered for 3 years until dying from full blown AIDS at the age of 14. This is a near impossibility today, thanks to modern technology.
I also have a titanium and carbon fibre wheelchair, weighing less than a single wheel on my old chair - I can move around in it for longer, lift it in and out of my car without keeling over and it rolls more efficiently due to state of the art bearings and custom design.
Although we're not all on hoverboards, ordering rehydration pizzas or jet-packing to work (yet), my life is certainly easier, more comfortable, safer and likely to last longer than it would 20 years ago - mostly due to tech advances.
(swyped on my Note 2, via hi speed 3G, whilst sitting on my soft-close toilet seat)
To compare to 20 years ago, the UK were sourcing donor blood from the USA (prisoners who were paid for their often contaminated blood) and then extracting plasma without heat treating or batch testing for some pretty deadly diseases. I actually contracted Hep C in '92, but luckily my body fought the virus (coz I'm well'ard!) and now I just test positive for the antibodies. A childhood friend received a batch (meant for me, but he needed it sooner) with HIV, suffered for 3 years until dying from full blown AIDS at the age of 14. This is a near impossibility today, thanks to modern technology.
I also have a titanium and carbon fibre wheelchair, weighing less than a single wheel on my old chair - I can move around in it for longer, lift it in and out of my car without keeling over and it rolls more efficiently due to state of the art bearings and custom design.
Although we're not all on hoverboards, ordering rehydration pizzas or jet-packing to work (yet), my life is certainly easier, more comfortable, safer and likely to last longer than it would 20 years ago - mostly due to tech advances.
(swyped on my Note 2, via hi speed 3G, whilst sitting on my soft-close toilet seat)
Soldato
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- 30 Sep 2005
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we have just had some LCD windows fitted. Unfortunately they are not ours but we have them to test for a company. Due to NDA no photos I'm afraid.
They have a cable underneath for power, and another for the network. When you open the curtains a little app in the corner has the weather with outside temp, little animation of it raining etc etc.
Cool, but totally pointless lol
Google them though, they are ace!
They have a cable underneath for power, and another for the network. When you open the curtains a little app in the corner has the weather with outside temp, little animation of it raining etc etc.
Cool, but totally pointless lol
Google them though, they are ace!
Soldato
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How did you get these windows?? They sound awesome!
Soldato
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Shame they don't do the frosted appearance, and then a super blackout version for blackout night time living, with the potential to gradually increase the light at a specific time, so one could wake with light being let into your room. Going from black to frosted until you tap them to 'open' the curtains.
What are they like for energy usage?
What are their thermo properties?
Soldato
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It was late 2003 when I saw OcUK offering Pentium 4's at 3.8GHz and that was the highest stock speed I ever saw for a CPU. Although we have cores now, which is effectively 2 or more CPUs, I'm surprised that clock speed haven't surpassed 3.8Ghz/4.0GHz in the last 10 years. In the late 1990s, you could compare a 600MHz with a 450MHz as they are direct figures. Nowadays though, how do you compare an i5-2500K with an i5-3570K? Apart from the K meaning unlocked multiplier, the model numbers don't really mean anything. Then you have to use look-up tables from benchmarking sites to get figures and those are only rough estimates.
On the plus side, I'm glad that home shopping has kicked off. I remember a news article from 1994 saying how home shopping will be the future and you'll use your TV zapper to make your grocery orders. Apparently Microsoft were going to be one of the companies to facilitate it. When I mentioned Microsoft at my school library regarding home shopping, they said "we're a bit past that now". Never knew what they meant by that. Nowadays though, we all know it's done on the web via supermarket's own sites e.g. Tesco and Sainsbury's, not on Teletext.
On the plus side, I'm glad that home shopping has kicked off. I remember a news article from 1994 saying how home shopping will be the future and you'll use your TV zapper to make your grocery orders. Apparently Microsoft were going to be one of the companies to facilitate it. When I mentioned Microsoft at my school library regarding home shopping, they said "we're a bit past that now". Never knew what they meant by that. Nowadays though, we all know it's done on the web via supermarket's own sites e.g. Tesco and Sainsbury's, not on Teletext.
I am no luddite, however I realise the issues of a society with a lot of gadgets, but little/no knowledge of using them, specifically security wise.
If you outfitted your home with a multi-application computer, which controlled everything from the lock to the doors, the appliances, the lights, heating times, blind timers...whatever.
That would be overdoing it and i fear that is where we are headed, while i can deal with the initial issues, eventually it will become rather unfortunate before it gets better.
Its already an issue today really, people so attached to a phone that can basically tell the rest of the world where you are, which is fine, if this was a utopia with no violence, but clearly, not the case.
If any advice is to come of this, be cautious, but don't linger in the past either.
Now what makes me feel high-tech? I honestly have no idea, I grew up this era of ultra-advancement, so i don't particularly feel much is exciting civilian wise, but if there were anything that made me feel happier, it would be fact that the society itself is becoming orientated in the fine art of the new social order, which i find fascinating to watch as people become so naturally intertwined in the interface of the world.
Well basically the philosophy of it i suppose is nice for me.
If you outfitted your home with a multi-application computer, which controlled everything from the lock to the doors, the appliances, the lights, heating times, blind timers...whatever.
That would be overdoing it and i fear that is where we are headed, while i can deal with the initial issues, eventually it will become rather unfortunate before it gets better.
Its already an issue today really, people so attached to a phone that can basically tell the rest of the world where you are, which is fine, if this was a utopia with no violence, but clearly, not the case.
If any advice is to come of this, be cautious, but don't linger in the past either.
Now what makes me feel high-tech? I honestly have no idea, I grew up this era of ultra-advancement, so i don't particularly feel much is exciting civilian wise, but if there were anything that made me feel happier, it would be fact that the society itself is becoming orientated in the fine art of the new social order, which i find fascinating to watch as people become so naturally intertwined in the interface of the world.
Well basically the philosophy of it i suppose is nice for me.
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Associate
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We still live in houses made out of mud...
The lucky ones do!
It is a good solid basic technology. It does the job, why change it for the sake of change?
Where modern technology has got it wrong, perhaps...
"I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one... "
Henry Ford.
Nowadays we seem to be trending towards using the cheapest materials we can get away with combined with the most complicated designs!
Not a particularly good combination!
Soldato
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Too much effort. Speech-to-text is incredibly accurate these days.
I wonder what happened to the idea of having self-stocking refrigerators. Basically when you took an item out of the fridge, you'd pass it in front of a barcode scanner. It would then adjust your inventory accordingly, and when you were running out of an item it would update your shopping list. This would all tie into your local grocery, so when you go to the store you pick up your cart, check out, and head home. Same could be used for cabinets/pantries I suppose.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned semi-automated automobiles yet. Already in use are small radars, cameras and sensors on vehicles that aid users with parking, reversing, or blind-spot and lane-marking detection. I also really like the feature of using the cruise control, and the car will slow itself when getting too close to the vehicle in front. Using these, coupled with sensors installed on roadways and GPS, will basically allow cars to drive themselves. There are already motorways in California that are in the testing stages.
http://www.autosaur.com/automated-cars-a-step-closer/
A window with a display to denote it's raining, as opposed to just looking out of said window. Facepalm to individual that came up with that "bright" idea.
I won't feel like I'm living high tech until there are hover cars. Seriously, what's taking so long!
The iPad and tablets are nice but I think they should have appeared in early 2000s not late. Tablets should have pen functionality as standard. Yeah finger may be easier because everyone has one but a pen can write properly and detailed. Controlling your home via technology is pretty futuristic but it's definitely not standard.
The iPad and tablets are nice but I think they should have appeared in early 2000s not late. Tablets should have pen functionality as standard. Yeah finger may be easier because everyone has one but a pen can write properly and detailed. Controlling your home via technology is pretty futuristic but it's definitely not standard.
Soldato
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Another thing I did wonder about, relates to wi-fi. People started getting wireless routers about 10 years ago, and I posted a thread on OcUK asking if there will ever be a truly wireless ISP. That is - wireless hotspots (perhaps masts) that cover whole towns, and you pay a subscription to it. It turned out a few years later that this is known as 3G. Get a USB 3G stick for your computer and you have truly wireless internet access.
Unless you get really bad 2G GPRS in some areas here (mostly indoors to be fair). 20 minutes to load Google.