Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! Below is the article as submitted.
It’s easy to
forget that in just the last five years our use of technology has changed
radically. The first iPhone hit the market in 2007, and the iPad less than
three years ago. We now take for granted that we can carry a lightweight, flat,
always-connected computer in our pocket or purse, ready to turn on instantly,
with access to the world’s information at our fingertips.
Children today
take this technology for granted in the same way that my generation assumed
that telephones and televisions belonged in every home. We have not yet begun
to understand the radical implications of a world in which a young child sees a
magazine as a broken iPad. The appeal of portable flat-screen technology has
led us to introduce these new tools into our lives without understanding their
full power or appreciating the risks that they represent.
The ways in which
we socialize, work, learn, and relax have all changed in just five years. Take
a look around at your next social gathering and count the times that someone
pulls out a smartphone. Or, perhaps more frightening, observe how many freeway
drivers’ faces are illuminated by the glow of a phone or tablet. (I recommend
you do this from the passenger seat!)
We can expect a
lot of incremental improvements in flat-screen mobile devices in the coming year.
Samsung has emerged as a credible competitor to Apple, and Google’s Android
operating system has many fans. While Microsoft’s newest operating system has
received both raves and pans, it’s clear that they have put their engineering
and marketing might behind their new Surface tablets. But don’t count out Apple
– this could be the year that they merge the technology in iPhones, iPads, and
televisions, further modifying the ecosystem for consuming video.
Perhaps the most
interesting new trend is the newfound appeal of analog content. I’ve enjoyed
watching my teenage children embrace vinyl records. It’s not just about
something that sounds different – it’s about making a physical connection with
an object that feels valuable and permanent as opposed to the inexpensive and
ephemeral digital download.
Paradoxically, the
digital revolution has led us to find greater value in the physical and the
analog. The obvious parallel is the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. This counter-movement values not just the
physical object, but also making things yourself –the so-called Maker Movement.
Makers don’t necessary reject the digital – rather, they embrace it as a tool
that gives more democratic access to the tools of production.
The embodiment of
the analog/digital confluence is the 3D printer. 3D printers use a digital
model to “print out” an object – a cell phone case, a toy, a sculpture. 3D
printers have been around for more than a decade, but reached widespread awareness
2012. Visit “Google Trends” and enter “3D Printer” to see how quickly interest
is growing.
Until recently, 3D
printers were expensive tools used by industrial design labs and small
manufacturing facilities, but several options are now available for the home at
the cost of a good camera. For the adventurous, do-it-yourself kits and plans
can be found to build a 3D printer for less than $1,000. Firms such as Cubify
and Makerbot offer home printers in the $1,000 to $3,000 range.
3D printers may never
achieve the wide-spread use of devices like the iPhone, but as digital content
becomes ever cheaper and more universal, we will increasingly value activities
that are tangible, flawed, and personal.
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