Over the last ten years, technology has become vital in most America households. However, keeping up with the changes has proven to be a daunting task for the average person (Cann, 2016). When evaluating trends in technology and their potential impact on the future, one’s focus turns to the things that impact daily lives while simultaneously empowering people to do more. The economic impact of technology in the areas of transportation, healthcare, and cyber security is undeniable as will be made clear by the examples presented herein.
Technological Impact on Commute
One of the greatest hazards facing our country is the commute. It is one of the leading causes of death in our nation, and it significantly contributes to low productivity in many industries. (Time, 2014) One logical solution is autonomous cars, which astonishingly, can be controlled with a smart phone application. This is made possible through the use of sensors that aid the vehicle in navigating to its final destination, while avoiding any potential accidents along the way ..While the technological impact on commute is vast, it is not the only area of our lives that feels the effects of technological advancements.
Technological Impact on Healthcare
Another area of our lives affected by technology is healthcare. As with the challenges of commuting, healthcare affects everyone. Scientists are exploring the idea of implementing the same technology found in the Amazon Alexa device to healthcare. In its current
Imagine being able to get into your car and simply typing in your desired destination, and then reclining your seat to watch a movie or text a friend. During this time, the car is basically driving itself. Well, soon this may be possible this invention is called an autonomous car. An autonomous car, or driverless/ robotic car, is a car that is designed to drive without human interference. Essentially, drivers can program their destination into the car’s GPS system and then sit back and relax. Some of the world’s largest car companies are currently creating autonomous vehicles, such as Audi, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes, and countless others. The driverless vehicle is now becoming a clearer and more present reality, and has been discussed and planned for decades. The autonomous vehicle offers significant benefits, but raises many questions and difficulties.
Think about getting into your car to go on vacation. You have everything pacted, hop in, and get ready to watch a movie. This is starting to become a reality in the coming years. More and more industries are starting to dump millions of dollars into invoicing a safe, self driving vehicle. However, is this really a positive step with the innovation of transportation.Transportation with technology is evolving with us everyday. Self Driving cars are one of the new forms of technology. Driverless cars are beginning to enter the roadway currently. National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Joan Claybrook, believes that it will take between 10-30 years before driverless cars are good enough to be fully administered on the roadway (Greenhouse).
“Ninety percent of our road accidents are related to bad driving behavior; driving recklessly and speeding under the influence of alcohol, changing lanes without signaling, driving on the hard shoulder and passing through red lights.” -Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Commander in chief of the Dubai Police (Olarte, 2011). The majority of car crashes are caused by human errors, and if this proposition is implemented, the number of fatalities due to car accidents per year will dramatically plummet. In 2012, a Google driverless car had driven over 300,000 miles, with only two accidents being reported, both of which had been a human’s fault (Emerson, 2012). Autonomous cars will have quicker reflexes than humans, make more reliable judgments and will not commit silly mistakes such as texting whilst driving. As a collateral for reducing accidents, this innovation could theoretically also save the government trillions of dollars each year.
Computers are already trusted to keep our cars from slipping and prevent wheels from locking up. Using computers to drive us around is a logical next step to take as the technology matures. As the industry advances, driverless cars will revolutionize life and make travel safer. Drunk driving can be eliminated as computers can take over for intoxicated humans. Elderly people will be able to move about as they please, without special assistance. As these systems become more advanced, and reliable, productivity will increase as less time is spent in traffic jams. According to USA Today, deaths from car accidents cost society nearly 900 billion a year. As driverless cars become more affordable, and better drivers then humans, the annual cost to society will decrease. As the lives saved by this technology will save millions of dollars in medical treatment, and keep healthy people out of the hospital and reduce the strain on emergency services from preventable
The primary concern with transportation is safety; hence the most obvious and largest benefit to the replacement of regular cars with self-driving cars is the decrease in traffic collisions. “Ninety percent of our road accidents are related to bad driving behavior; driving recklessly and speeding under the influence of alcohol, changing lanes without signaling, driving on the hard shoulder and passing through red lights.” -Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Commander in chief of the Dubai Police (Olarte, 2011). The majority of car crashes is caused by human errors, and if this proposition is implemented, the number of fatalities due to car accidents per year will dramatically plummet. In 2012, a Google driverless car had driven over 300,000 miles, with only two accidents being reported, both of which had been a human’s fault (Emerson, 2012). Autonomous cars will have quicker reflexes than humans, make more reliable judgments and will not commit silly mistakes such as texting whilst driving. As a collateral for reducing accidents, this innovation could theoretically also save the government
Although the self-driving car is relatively new in the world of technological advancement, they are coming to Portland, Oregon soon. While they are not widespread yet, Oregonians are concerned for various reasons. Once they arrive, many new laws must be created because of this new technology. The future impact of the self-driving car directly correlates to how safe people perceive the car. As of now, the cars and their ability to sense pedestrians are improving. However, the technology is not error-proof. Overcoming the widespread opinion and assumption that the cars are dangerous will be an extremely large hurdle for the self-driving car to defeat before people will consider using the self-driving function of cars that exist right now. Generally, to gain popularity among the community, self-driving cars must be able to prove that they can
A new technology is approaching, and it may change the world forever. Imagine a planet where traffic does not exist and there are no more drunk drivers on the roads putting people’s lives in danger. With the invention of self-driving cars, this dream world can be made into reality. A self-driving car is exactly what it sounds like, a car that operates on its own without a human driver. They have raised many controversies as to whether this invention is good or bad. Many people believe that self-driving cars are a threat to humanity, but it is the complete opposite. Self- Driving Cars will have a positive impact on society for many different reasons.
Finally, the last obstacle is technological. With renewable energy and green technology being new, the technology is simply not as efficient as it is required to be (New York Times, Arthur Ochs). Energy means nothing if there remains no long term way to store it, “Energy is most useful to us when it is concentrated, transportable and storable” (Powering Planet Earth, 41). So a larger capacity and longer lasting battery would be greatly beneficial to green technology as well as the outside that market due to the spillover effects.
Technology and healthcare are two of the most developmental topics in the twenty-first century. Both will continue to change each other for the better to help make humans potentially live forever. Others believe that technology is inevitably changing how our healthcare is practiced, and that technology could be improving our lives to help us live forever. Nevertheless, there are others who feel that healthcare should stray from the newest technology, because it is not beneficial for our society.
Driverless vehicles are coming, whether some of us, such as taxi drivers, want them to or not. The image of large fleets of these types of vehicles of different sizes that pick people up and take them where they need to go is probably the stuff of nightmares for people who currently do this for their livelihood. Yet this is exactly what some envision happening over the next several years. Google's driverless cars will lead the robotic vehicular onslaught by offering people convenience and safety. The cause of most accidents are us humans, so by taking us out of the loop when it comes to navigating a vehicle from point A to point B, accidents will markedly decrease. Those of us who do not wish to will also not need to maintain a car of our own
In post-industrial societies such as the United States and much of Europe, autonomous vehicles are increasingly becoming a reality. It is nearly impossible to stop progress and this is no exception. Even when California banned self-driving cars, companies like Google and Uber just moved their testing sites to other states and continued their research (McFarland, 2017). America is known as a country of cars and trucks but the advances in self-driving cars may affect this image immensely as new companies take the forefront of this new industry. As this new technology becomes ingrained in daily life, society will be changed largely in the way that human drivers deal with autonomous cars, the common understanding of safety on the roads, and the
In recent years, car manufacturers have been working on a way to potentially eliminate the need for people to drive. The idea of roads filled with self driving cars, which are currently being developed, is increasing in popularity. Today, manufacturers sell cars that have the ability to assist the driver with navigation and parking, but the driverless cars currently being developed have the ability to drive themselves. These vehicles are fully automated and do not need a driver. They can move, steer, break, and navigate on their own, with no human intervention. Fully automated cars are not yet on the market but are currently being produced and tested. Automobile manufacturers predict that autonomous vehicles will be ready for the general public by the year 2020 (Fung). One of the most commonly cited reason for promoting these automobiles is for improved safety by reducing the number of crashes”. Furthermore, proponents claim that
Over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year, an additional 23.5 million are injured or disabled, nearly 8,000 people are killed in crashes involving drivers ages 16-20 (“Road Crash Statistics”). According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, “crashes cost the U.S. $230.6 billion per year, or an average of $820 per person” (“Road Crash Statistics”). So, now imagine a world in where you feel safe to drive any time of the day. Imagine getting into a car and not worrying about driving alongside drunk drivers, drivers who are exhausted, or distracted drivers who are on their phones. Our technology has advanced significantly and it only continues advancing. Waymo, a small project that was launched by Google started exploring the idea of a self-driven car. Self-driven cars can be beneficial to our society because they will lower traffic while improving safety, lower the death toll in car accidents, and will be environmental friendly. If we start using self-driving cars our society will become less worried about risking their lives and people would not be so afraid to get to their destination.
Information technology has an impact on many different aspects of our life. Technology has influenced the economy and on the way people live, communicate and work. The growth and improvement of technology yields to a greater output and huge impact on the economy. Technology innovation provides more efficient and cheaper ways to make existing goods. Many institutions are spending a lot of their revenue on research and development. This resulted in creating new products and new services. Economy has been affected by technology in the number of the increased jobs, the emergence of new and developed services and the use of the Internet to reach customers.
Technology has changed so many of the ways in which we live our lives, from the invention of the wheel to the advanced systems we use and take for granted everyday. Technology was once taboo in most house holds while people still clung to the idea that life was built on life experiences. Nicholas Carr stated in, Is Goggle making us stupid? "Back in the fourth century, BCE, Plato complained that writing (then a fairly new technology) was destroying peoples memory, yet he wrote dozens of books. For half a century, television has been accused of rotting our brains and making us fat and lazy, but most people depend on it for info, news and entertainment." Technology has changed our understanding of the way things work and