Mehul's thoughts on stocks & technology

As someone who started office life not so long ago, I wanted to take time today & write about how the technology has transformed the workplace in the last fifty years or so.
In 1943, the president of IBM predicted that there was a world market for maybe five computers. Now, sixty six years later, imagine how the work will be affected if the computers stop working! Each and everything will come to a halt, period! 

Even though data intensive organizations like banks used computers even in 1950s, they were HUGE, ridiculously expensive & kept in special climate controlled rooms. It wasn’t until 1981 when IBM released it's PC that the world actually took serious notice. PCs became more and more popular, & more commercial apps like Lotus 1-2-3 were launched. Once computer had a solid foothold, Internet which till later 1980s was primarily used for military, research & education started peeking into the corporate world as well. Rest of it is relatively recent history, worldwide web, emails, cellphones & now e-commerce.
In the last fifty years or so, technology has completely overhauled the workplace again & again. First the computers became mainstream and then the internet and email. A lot of companies already have an intranet messenger or at the very least use one of the popular messengers to facilitate easy communication between employees. Almost all the meetings are over the phone or internet now & very often, meetings comprise of people spanning multiple continents! Corporate emails & messenger are now finding their way to smartphones, & a new culture of “work anytime anywhere” is being promoted.So, in short for people who started their career about 40 – 50 years ago, it’s very hard to imagine how many changes they have adapted to in a relatively short span of time.
Now, the question is, should we not expect a similar (or much faster) transformation curve in the next 40-50 years? There is absolutely no reason to think why the work place won’t evolve at a fast pace! While it’s almost impossible to predict what the changes will be, we can try & make an educated guess:

- Cloud computing: I guess I believe in it very strongly, but I think in the next 5-6 years, any device with a screen & an input channel that has access to network will be able to provide you with all your data no matter where and how it is stored.

- Avatar: I think our avatars will eventually lead a much more meaningful life online. Even today, several virtual platforms exist today (most notable being “Second Life”) however, there will be a lot of raised eyebrows in the room if you tell them that you spent real money (or Linden dollars) for buying a new pair of shoes for your avatar. However, I think as people develop more mainstream uses for the virtual life, avatar’s will become more important. For example, consider attending an e-conference with people from around the world while you are “working from home”. You might or might not be very comfortable with 10s of people watching you on webcam, but I am sure your avatar won’t be “camera shy”! Infact, all the avatars could potentially meet up in a virtual meeting room & discuss matters that will change the world!  (Hey, you better buy land in Second Life while the Linden dollar is still cheap!)

- During the presidential elections in US, CNN used a holographic technique which received a lukewarm reception. Nevertheless, it can have some very interesting applications in relation to “avatar” point above.

Leave a Reply