Prepared for future technology? Do we have a choice?

I think that the average week in the year 2026 will be a lot different from the average week now. I think it is near impossible to prepare college students for what will happen in their field of study in the year 2026. I am going to be a teacher and there are many new technologies present now within the elementary schools but I think that the curriculum, assignments, grading scales and just about everything else will be available for teachers and students online. I feel that I will still be present in the classroom as a teacher in the year 2026 but the students will be using the computer for most of their work. I feel that writing and reading a book will be near obsolete in the year 2026. If the teacher assigns homework, the students will do the homework through a computer. They will read electronic books online and have many different options like they do now in the library. I feel that people will be able to type a lot more words per minute on the keyboard (if a keyboard is still around then). It will be a fast paced society, even more so than it is today.

I think that food will be replaced with pills. We will be in such a hurry because technology will be advanced so much and people will not have time to eat even more than they don’t now. I feel that all cars will be generated from a different energy (without using gasoline) and they will be charged when not in use. I feel that the life expectancy will have gone up by the year 2026. There will still be accidents that occur of course but for the most part, people will live longer. I feel that watching the daily news will be a lot different. I think we will consider organ transplants a lot more, even from animals, as well as using microchips in babies. Maybe missing children will be a thing of the past. I think children will have it the hardest in 2026. They will be taught to do things that will happen in the future. Parents, the government, schools, etc. will have a track of all students at all times and their lives will be a lot different. They will not enjoy the outdoors like they do now. Video games, virtual reality screens, computers and anything else that will be within the homes will be their main source of entertainment. Honestly, I think that the government will run just about everything. Our country will still be free and all that, but I think that we will live our lives similar to everyone across the globe. I predict that we will not be watching a 2-D television but a 3-D television with electronic controllers that are as thin as a sheet of paper but smaller in size than a sheet of paper. There will probably be a way to call somebody without having a hand held device present. We will have something implanted into our skin that is with us at all times. We will be able to contact people more easily than ever before.

I predict that shopping will be a past time. Well, actual going into a store and shopping will be. We will still purchase things online but in the year 2026, we will just about purchase everything online. I think there will be a program to see all dimensions of potential products you want to buy. You will have a 3-D picture of yourself uploaded online and you can search for any clothing you may want to purchase and see if it will fit your body and how it will look. This will be available for household products as well. You probably will not have to wait 5-8 business days for these things to arrive either. It may come within a few hours.

I predict that doctors will be able to set a diet for each person that fits them perfectly. They will be able to take pills that will be exactly the amount of calories that they need for their body size, weight, medical conditions, etc. I am not sure how many cures there will be because I think the government will still be the ultimate controllers of medicines that are on the market. We will still need people to die. This world is overpopulated enough now; I could not imagine how it will be in year 2026, especially if the death rate would decrease.

I think our knowledge of the Universe will be significantly bigger in the year 2026. We may be able to see virtual pictures and videos of the moon and possibly other planets. We will probably use things discovered on other planets for something. I am not sure what exactly but we will know a lot more about the Universe. I am not sure that the elevator to the moon will be in year 2026, but it probably will not be far away from that time. These are some predictions I have about the future. I am ready to face the future for it is inevitable. Time and technology will continue and change, I guess the human race will have to adapt as well.

Google knows us!

Well, I would like to begin by saying that it makes sense for the creators of websites to know when you have been on their site. I would imagine it is not only Google that knows us so well. Yes, they may know what I like as far as topics, pictures and videos I search for but does it really matter? They aren't going to use this information are they? There are people from my past who know my interests and I do not speak to them anymore. It's not a big deal. This is my opinion. For some people, it may be extremely creepy knowing that 'Google' knows all about them but for me, as long as the information is not used to harm me in any way, I'm fine with it! If you post a lot on a social networking site, many people can have access to that. They know what you are doing, who is in your family, how old you are, where you like to go and what you enjoy doing. This is kind of the same thing (except you know the people on Facebook and MySpace) but still, same concept!
I do not use the Internet for inappropriate reasons so I don't think I would be embarrassed knowing Google has seen what I searched for. For some people, this may be a problem. They should consider reading the article. Maybe there would be less pedophiles, stalkers and harassers on the Internet.
Google is the biggest and most popular search engine on the Internet. Therefore, SO many people use it! How is somebody going to remember that many people or worry about what Janie Sue ate for breakfast or where she goes every Summer? If somebody who works for Google plans a trip to go to that same vacation spot during the time when Janie Sue will be there, maybe a problem will exist then! Like I said, as long as the known information is not used for anything harmful to me or anybody else, let them know about my life, no problemo!

Digital Divide

I feel that for the most part, the Digital Divide is not a serious problem. After looking at statistics from the Excel assignment, many countries have lots of Internet users. I don’t think that the United States has a serious Digital Divide because there are so many Internet users in this country. It has become mandatory to know basics of a computer to do certain jobs. When I was in grade school, we used the computer some but nowhere near as much as it is used now in schools. I do feel that the Internet has exploded in terms of how much it is used and how many users use it. I think that this makes it harder for some generations. They say it is very hard to teach an old dog new tricks. This seems to be the case for older people who try to use the Internet. They do not have that background experience or knowledge of how to use a keyboard and many of them seem lost when it comes to the computer so they refrain from doing so. I think that it is sad for a highly qualified, older person to not get a job due to their lack of knowledge about how to use the Internet. This is an instance where the age should be considered when hiring. If they are qualified for the most part, then they should be able to learn pretty easily in my opinion. Technology has adapted but whenever the older generations were in school, they were not taught how to use a computer because back then it may not have seemed necessary to do so. Costs and availability may have been factors to this as well. I think that the Digital Divide causes a problem in this case. A very intelligent person who may be in their mid or late 60s may not have had experience with a computer for most of their life. I know that many older people who are wealthy are more likely to have been exposed to the computer and Internet in their past but there are too many that may fall behind. I think it is accurate to assume that the younger generation has background knowledge with computer usage so this may become a requirement for jobs or classes. I think that the Digital Divide is not real serious because those who know how to use the Internet or are required to use it will. When considering the Digital Divide in this country, I think it is important to remember that ALL children are required to go to school. This means that they may only be exposed to computers and the Internet at school. Since ALL children go to school, this means low-income, minority groups, middle-class and upper-class students attend. The low-income and minority groups may have never seen a computer before entering the classroom. They may not be able to work on skills they learn in the classroom at home. The only practice they get may be in the classroom. Their parents may not have previously been exposed to the computer which makes it impossible to help their kids because they may not have been able to afford a computer nor have they used a computer before. This may pose a problem for the divide because many students may grow up knowing what a computer is and how to search using the Internet but may not have had adequate practice at home enough to succeed in the working world. In these few examples that I mentioned, I do feel that the divide is serious but for the most part I feel that it is evenly distributed in our country.