Part TEN = The 21st Century and beyond...

The 21st Century and beyond... 

The 21st century has been an amazing time to be born and one can only wonder at what the future holds for the people around then...

 
From the introduction of film in cinema, came the first televisions in the home in the 1950's. These very quickly became the centre piece of just about every household in the western world, with the living space and general layout of the living room based around it. The sofas and chairs usually all pointed towards it so everyone in the house can see it okay. From these early TV's, we have gone from small black and white units; to colour; to the bulky video tape systems and now the small DVD and other optical disc recorders. Televisions themselves got thinner but bigger in screen size, with more more high resolution each year and now even at home 3D cinema type viewing.

We have the internet, that not only allows us to read the news but to make it. We have the freedom of speech in the UK to put our own views 'out there' for others to see and comment on, using interactive sites like Facebook etc.

The speed of the internet has also jumped in large amounts from very slow dial up modems and blocky graphics on screen, to almost instant downloads of text and graphics and real photographs.

Even the way people now speak on and off line is interchangeable, with new words and meanings going both ways. Some people even create icons or avatars to represent themselves, which may say things that they wouldn't say out loud in real life.

Mobile phone technology has grown and changed dramatically and it's hard to believe that Apple only brought out their first SMARTPHONE in 2007. We see them in everyday use and take them so much for granted.

Apps for phones and other technology has also brought about a change in commerce, as now it's not just large companies that produce these items. With the right knowledge and a good idea, anyone can!

A lot of us have, maybe without even realising it, become part of an 'always on' culture. In it's simplistic terms, people leave their mobiles on constantly, charging them overnight, afraid to turn them off in case they miss a call for example.

Whether we like it or not, we are now being bombarded with information, from a variety of sources. Previously we had e.g. the news at a certain time of day, on a certain TV channel. Compare this to now, when you can get any information that you want at any time you want.

Because of this our attention span has gotten a lot shorter. We constantly filter the information we are being bombarded with. Web pages have to be precise and to the point, with an average page being given 3 seconds viewing time. The same with film viewing, which is now also much shorter, with again a maximum of 3 seconds between cuts.

In the future personalised technology will suggest recording certain TV programmes, based upon what you already watch. You only have to look at Amazon and Ebay, which already does this, based on what products that you have browsed or bought recently.