Thursday, December 8, 2011

State of the Technological World

State of the Art

A snapshot of the rapidly changing world of computing, communications and technology. Related Article »

A GLOBAL INTERNET

In just four decades the Internet has spread to much of the world. Now, the shift to high-bandwidth connectivity and the global availability of supercomputing is accelerating.

Related article: A High-Stakes Search Continues for Silicon’s Successor

Related article: Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing

A GLOBAL INTERNET

A MORE CONNECTED WORLD

Cellphones are proliferating rapidly in much of the developing world. The use of smartphones and other Internet-connected devices is still low, but should rise quickly in countries like China, which will soon have the world’s largest domestic market for Internet commerce and computing.

Related article: Vast and Fertile Ground in Africa for Science to Take Root

A MORE CONNECTED WORLD

TOWARD AN
INNOVATIVE CHINA

China is the dominant maker of computers and consumer electronics, and is readily able to adapt and improve on technology innovations made elsewhere. But innovation within the country has been limited by government controls and the relative lack of intellectual property protection.

Related article: China Aims for High-Tech Primacy

TOWARD AN INNOVATIVE CHINA

RAW MATERIALS
FOR INNOVATION

The synthesis that made Silicon Valley—the concentration of science and engineering talent and venture capital—is now beginning to proliferate in the developing world. China’s growing venture capital market is now the second largest in the world.

Related article: With a Leaner Model, Start-Ups Reach Further Afield

RAW MATERIALS FOR INNOVATION

Remember that YouTube only started in 2005. That most businesses only used the internet for email in 2000 (if they used it at all!). That phones used to be just phones, not mobile phones let alone mobile internet devices.

As William Gibson famously said, 'the future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed.' It's worth considering the distribution of technological advances. It isn't always where you think.

Posted via email from andragy's posterous

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