The Citizen, 1999-08-25, Page 11THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1999. PAGE 11.
Approaching the Millennium
Technology - yesterday, today and tommorrow
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
Think of technology and the
changes which have taken place and
it is often the most recent which
come to mind.
However, as one glances back
over the past 100 years, there have
been many more revolutionary
changes to man’s existence than the
proliferation of the internet, cell
phones and satellite television in the
past decade.
From the time of the industrial
revolution around the turn of the
century, man's use of mechanized
equipment has continued to grow at
an ever increasing rate with a domi
no effect on people’s lives.
As assembly lines took over in the
factories, workers’ tasks were eased
while at the same time unemploy
ment increased as fewer workers
could produce at the same or a high
er rate.
On the farms, the move from horse
and plow to ever-larger tractors
allowed farmers to work more land
with fewer hands.
Milking technology enabled dairy
farmers to increase their herd sizes
while refrigeration technology
allowed better storage of the prod
uct.
Almost every sector of our society
has been drastically changed by
mechanization, electricity and com
puterization in the last 100 years.
As we come to the end of this mil
lennium, for many it has become a
time to look back at what has hap
pened and where those technological
advances have taken society.
For business consultant
Brock Vodden of Blyth, the
most amazing aspects of tech
nology are the speed at which
they are created at which they
are adopted by the public.
“We will probably see more
changes in the next 20 years than we
did in the last 100,” he speculates.
Vodden generally sees types of
technology which have infiltrated
most people’s lives.
The first would be ones which are
rarely noticed today as we become
engrossed in the internet. Yet, it is
those little changes which have
made people’s lives easier. Vodden
suggests inventions such as a better
mouse trap or improved pop-up
toaster would fit that category.
The second group would probably
be the area which most people
would think of when talking tech
nology.
“The impact of these devices
would be much broader and the
results are seldom foreseen,”
Vodden says. The telephone has
become much more than just a
means of transmitting messages.
Then there are the inventions
which have led to the creation of
other devices, he says. Laser tech
nology has allowed for the creation
of other technologies which would
not otherwise have been possible.
With these types of inventions, it is
impossible to see the offshoots, he
says.
The final step in the advancement
of technology is the convergence of
two technologies which were not
designed to benefit each other. ‘They
can do more together, with a broader
impact, than they could ever do
alone.”
He gives the example of the inter
connections now seen between tele
phone, computer, cable and
microwave technologies.
“We don’t know where these
things are going.”
With businesses as the biggest
adopter of new developments,
Vodden fears they may be in danger
of killing themselves if they are not
aware of the displacement. The tech
nology allows faster and increased
production with fewer people, but as
people become unemployed who
will buy the product, he wonders.
In Vodden’s business, he is inter
ested not only in the technology for
its value, but the effect it has on the
people. “There is almost a limitless
ability to create technology, but we
are not so good at dealing with the
outcomes.”
As computerization increases and
the is the ability for more work to be
accomplished with fewer employ
ees, Vodden questions how society is
dealing with those displaced or those
who lack the training to be
employed in a changing work force.
“Many of the long term unem
ployed are the descendants of farm
ers displaced 50 or 60 years ago,
Vodden theorizes. “We have to adapt
social institutions to handle the
effects.
While mechanization and automa
tion may have freed some people
from jobs viewed as drudgery, there
may still be a need for physical
labour jobs and for those with less
education, he says.
Outside the business world,
Vodden sees the tremendous good
that technological improvement
have made, citing medical diagnos
tics as just one area.
Technology offers
scientific advances
Jim Prior, a computer consultant
and former teacher from Brussels,
agrees that technology has permitted
some great developments.
The ability to keep better records
has allowed for better statistics on
germs, he says. Scientists are able to
determine good and bad foods, the
germs that cause diseases and they
can analyze and manipulate more
data.
For both Vodden and Prior,
advances in technology have
allowed them to make changes in
how they do their business.
As a consultant, Prior spends
much of his time looking at the
screen, setting up web pages and
refining them for companies.
“This job has allowed me to talk to
people and meet people that I never
would have had the opportunity to
meet as a teacher,” says Prior. “ I talk
to presidents of companies on the
phone and get out and meet a lot of
people across the country.”
“With the user-friendly comput
ers, people are able to do wonderful
things
Vodden also sees the potential for
people to work from home as an
untapped market thus far.
He sees ecommerce, doing busi
ness and making purchases via the
internet, as an opportunity for busi
ness in regions such as Huron
County, with a small population
base, to draw on a larger market.
With the old method still the mode
of operation in many rural areas,
Vodden sees businesses falling fur
ther and further behind in technolo
gy. “We are becoming less competi
Using technology at home
On-line computer banks will be just one of the many services provided by technology in the
home as we move into the new millennium.
tive in the context of the new econo
my,” he says.
However, Vodden also under
stands the drawbacks faced by com
panies in areas such as Huron
County. New technology as well as
the training involved for staff, can be
very expensive to incorporate into a
business plan. With the limited pop
ulation there is also a limited return.
While the only solution may be to
broaden the customer base, some
businesses would prefer to just
serve the local market.
Even with the incorporation of
technology Vodden sees business
es not using it to its potential.
“People are doing their work the
same way instead of figuring out
how the technology can transform
their business, making it more effi
cient and effective.”
Prior agrees that companies are
not using the technology to the full
advantage. In his conversations with
companies, the presidents and vice-
presidents are often computer illiter
ate, he says. It is often someone
much lower down on the corporate
ladder who really knows how to use
the equipment.
Though use of the internet seems
to be skyrocketing, Vodden sees
much of it as a replacement for bill
boards. “They are not very interac
tive where people can buy things,”
he says.
He does, however, believe that
ecommerce will double in the next
year or two.
When asked about the common
fear of security on the internet for
purchases, he says there have always
been concerns for security whether it
was due to the numerous bank rob
beries in the last century or insecure
medicine bottle caps. “It is some
thing that will continue to improve.”
As for the future, Vodden sees the
services offered on-line becoming
more personal. Customers may be
able to choose when they watch the
local news and which movies they
watch on which day and at what
time. Clothes can be made-to-meas
ure and food can be prepared as you
want, then delivered.
“That will have a tremendous
impact on suppliers who still do it
the old way,” he says. They will
have to find new markets to reach.
With the tremendous work which
can be accomplished with desktop
computers by people sitting at home,
Prior suggests that the old business
es will have to find new niches as
their market.
“They have to rethink their direc
tion and find the market that desktop
people can’t reach.”
As the year 2000 approaches, the
ever-increasing technology may
Year 2000 DID YOU KNOW?
(NC) — Computers aren't the only items that arc susceptible to the Millennium
Bug. Many appliances and systems that use computer chips to keep track of, or
display, the date could be affected as well. For example, VCRs, watches,
answering machines, digital cameras, even cars could experience mallunction
because of the Bug. Find out it your appliances use a date display or record and
learn what you can do to be ready when the year changes to ‘2000.' For more
information on the Year 2000 compliancy of common household products, call
Industry Canada's toll free Year 2000 line at I -800-270-8220 lor a copy of the
Millennium Bug Home Check or read it on-line at the Task Force Year 2000
Secretariat’s Internet site at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sos2000.
- /VeH'.v Ciuuula
County of Huron
AMBULANCE
PUBLIC
MEETINGS
The Province of Ontario has decided to transfer
responsibility for land ambulance services in Huron
County to the County. Over the next year, the County is
faced with the decision of determining whether to
deliver this service itself, contract it out, or continue
with the five existing providers in the County. As a
result, five public meetings have been scheduled to
provide you with the opportunity to raise any issues,
concerns, or questions you may have about the future
of land ambulance service delivery in Huron County.
The meetings are being held:
Sept. 7 Clinton Town Hall Auditorium
Sept. 8 Seaforth Community Centre
Sept. 9 South Huron Recreation Centre, Exeter
Sept. 13 Wingham United Church
Sept. 14 MacKay Centre, Goderich
All five meetings start at 7 p.m.
For more information, please contact the County’s
offices at (519) 524-8394.
■ —
make it easier to work for some,
more convenient to hibernate for
others and yet there will be social
implications which will require
teamwork, co-operation and face-to-
face contact to solve.
While technology in many forms
has permitted ease of communica
tion, Prior sees it remaining as a big
part of the future.
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