theSun

A world soaked in technology
Digital products have become a cultural force that confers a sense of individuality and sociability
By Irene Leong

LIVING in the digital age means a typical day at home could be like this: dad watching football on his new 3D TV, mom twittering her friends about the latest Sex & the City movie on her BlackBerry, bro playing Naruto on his Sony PSP, and sis downloading songs on her iPod.

Technology has never figured as prominently on the home front as it does today; it has never touched our lives as profoundly as it does now. Hi-tech products have changed our lives to the extent we would find life less meaningful, less ordinary, without our cell phones, DVDs, and Internet access. The digital lifestyle translates to more freedom, flexibility and mobility, better quality entertainment, and enhanced inter-connectivity.

And it’s not only millennials who embrace all things IT; Generation Xers and Baby Boomers alike find themselves wanting to be in the know, or at least remain as current as possible.

Today, we are confronted with questions that were not typically asked 10 years ago, such as at what age should Junior get his first mobile phone or when should we upgrade our TV viewing to include Blu-ray. And to think that as little as two decades ago, the cell phone was considered a status symbol only the affluent could afford, and the Sony Walkman was the epitome of hip and happening among portable music lovers.

Today, technology moves at a speed that should rightly make our heads spin—or at least the heads of less IT-savvy people. The product cycle is very fast. Technology companies come out with products that are an improvement of earlier versions faster than we are able to digest: just when we think we now understand the wonders of LCD TV, we are told that 3D LED TVs are the hottest thing to lust for in 2010.

Those who want to keep up with the Joneses would scramble to unravel the mysteries of 3D TV, of course, while technology-weary souls would insist, hey, a TV is a TV is a TV. Er, that is until we realise Avatar is a whole lot more enjoyable when viewed on a flat screen rather than a TV invented 10 years ago!

And if we think an iPhone is just a phone, then we are really out of touch, because the initiated would know it’s also a book, a map, and a game – among many other things. The iPhone may have come onto the scene in 2007 but how it has revolutionised the field with its touch screen, built-in web browser, and accelerometer technology. It marked the advent of pocket computers, whether we realised it or not, and now with the apps creating so much excitement, it is safe to assume the brand will have a strong hold on humanity for a long while more.

It’s not only Apple that has re-defined the way humans communicate since cell service went digital in the last decade, of course. BlackBerry dominates enterprise still and there’s Nexus One, Google’s first step into the android phone arena. Not to be outdone, Samsung is making waves in the smartphone space with it large touch screen Samsung Wave S8500, the brand’s first model to use its proprietary open mobile platform called Bada ("ocean" in Korean).

Digital lifestyle products may be more accessible than ever to the masses but make no mistake, they are still status symbols, not unlike BMWs and Jimmy Choo shoes. Owning a higher end product is supposed to communicate to the world that you are affluent and discerning; that you have "arrived".

Digital products certainly are a cultural force that confers a sense of individuality and sociability. An ambitious, upwardly mobile professional, for instance, would want to be seen tinkering with a BlackBerry or iPhone, and not a lower-end product for obvious reasons. Likewise the sophisticated college student would want to be equipped with the right accessories and paraphernalia in showing his peers that he moves with the times – that he belongs to the circle. It is all about self-image and identity.

For their part, affluent parents would want to start them young – to provide their children a head start in a world where technology is supposed to be second nature to the younger generation. Hence today toddlers can utilise multimedia devices and easily navigate electronic resources on games in which they learn numbers, letters, and more complex tasks.

Generally, those below 29 years old are considered millennials, digital natives whose entire lives have been immersed in the 21st century media and who hence would readily embrace each new technology as they come. The young literally take on the world via the filter of hi-tech gadgets.

We are surrounded by so much technology that we are soaked in it and multitasking has become a way of life. We surf the Web while listening to music, and simultaneously engage in playing a video game and instant messaging.

A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation carries some truth that may understandably alarm parents who believe in a more healthy and balanced lifestyle: that youths spend more hours on the computer, in front of television, playing video games, texting and listening to music than an adult spends full-time at work!

The 10-year-old study covering 2,000 youths aged between eight and 18, says young people spend more than seven-and-a-half hours a day using electronic media, or more than 53 hours a week – and that because they spend so much of the time media multitasking they actually pack a total of 10 hours worth of media content into that time frame.

Not surprisingly, the report shows youths today owning more gadgets and computers than ever, with 76% owning an iPod or MP3 player last year, compared with 18% in 1999. Seven out of 10 youths owned a cell phone last year, compared with four in 10 a decade earlier, and the percentage of youths with laptops more than doubled to 29%.

An ever evolving hi-tech world also means some 20% of media consumption is now done over cell phones and about one hour a day of music and television is now consumed through digital forms like iPod and sites such as Hulu.

Without a doubt, the world has changed and it now belongs to the IT-savvy.

Touchscreen goes mainstream

FINGER-DRIVEN computing – a phenomenon that was not too long ago just a fantasy seen in science fiction movies – is lurching into the mainstream, destined to become the primary input method for tomorrow’s computers.

By 2014 the worldwide production of touchscreen modules will have reached 117.9 million units, an exponential jump from the forecasted production of just 15.8 million units in 2010, says market researcher iSuppli in a recent report.

Market research DisplaySearch confirmed the trend in its recently released 2010 Touch Panel Market Analysis, noting that Touch screen penetration is rapidly increasing in portable devices like mobile phones, media players and navigation units.

Rather than mulling over what hardware their new touchscreen device has, consumers are becoming more interested in whether their new device will run their must-have apps.

Content is becoming king in the touchscreen world and it’s a trend that (for the moment at least) is benefiting consumers.

"With intense competition flaring up among the ISVs to develop the next, must-have touch application, the battle will help to promote the sales of touch screen devices – not only in the consumer realm but also in the critical commercial segment," said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research for iSuppli.  

"Whether the applications are developed for Windows 7, Linux, Mac, or the wealth of mobile operating systems, the ISVs will drive much of the demand for touch applications."

 

via thesundaily.com

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