Ged Carroll

Category: technology | 技術 | 기술 | テクノロジー

It’s hard to explain to someone who didn’t live through it how transformation technology has been. When I was a child a computer was something mysterious. My Dad has managed to work his way up from the shop floor of the shipyard where he worked and into the planning office.

One evening he broad home some computer paper. I was fascinated by the the way the paper hinged on perforations and had tear off side edges that allowed it to be pulled through the printer with plastic sprockets connecting through holes in the paper.

My Dad used to compile and print off work orders using an ICL mainframe computer that was timeshared by all the shipyards that were part of British Shipbuilders.

I used the paper for years for notes and my childhood drawings. It didn’t make me a computer whiz. I never had a computer when I was at school. My school didn’t have a computer lab. I got to use Windows machines a few times in a regional computer labs. I still use what I learned in Excel spreadsheets now.

My experience with computers started with work and eventually bought my own secondhand Mac. Cut and paste completely changed the way I wrote. I got to use internal email working for Corning and internet connectivity when I went to university. One of my friends had a CompuServe account and I was there when he first met his Mexican wife on an online chatroom, years before Tinder.

Leaving college I set up a Yahoo! email address. I only needed to check my email address once a week, which was fortunate as internet access was expensive. I used to go to Liverpool’s cyber cafe with a friend every Saturday and showed him how to use the internet. I would bring any messages that I needed to send pre-written on a floppy disk that also held my CV.

That is a world away from the technology we enjoy now, where we are enveloped by smartphones and constant connectivity. In some ways the rate of change feels as if it has slowed down compared to the last few decades.

  • Invisible cloaks + other things

    Invisible cloaks

    The possibility of invisible cloaks straight out of a Marvel comic hero’s tool kit or a wizarding wardrobe a la Harry Potter. The underlying technology involves some science that sounds more like science fiction. Could ‘Harry Potter’-like invisible cloaks really exist? – CNET

    On a more serious note invisibility cloaks have applications in the military, law enforcement and even urban design through the power of cutting edge science.

    Foxes on the moon

    Foxes and science fiction what could be more awesome? This reminded me of TinTin for some reason that I can’t put my finger on at the moment. Have a watch and let me know what you think.

    SIN R1

    The SIN R1 looks like the kind of car I would have had as a poster on my wall as a kid, but now it looks too outlandish to be on the road.

    The driver doing doughnuts on the public road reminded me of the young lads who would take their hot hatches down to Blackpool for the lights . Revving their engines and pulling similar stunts. Which makes me wonder, what do they think their customer is going to be like? A yob, the stereotypical young footballer?

    Media

    Vice is being widely touted as a modern-day CNN or BBC, but a significant amount of its output looks to me like it is the modern day equivalent of the mondo film. This film on Mexican black magic being a classic example

    Retailing

    Step Aside Black Friday – Meet Prime Day | Business Wire – interesting that Amazon is not including it’s China business in this. More retailing related posts here

    Technology

    TSMC Overtakes Intel in Chip Capex Ranking | EE Times – interesting that Sony is surging up there as well with its CMOS sensors

    Wireless

    Dual-SIM smartphone sales to hit half a billion next year | TotalTele.com – waiting for the dual SIM option on the iPhone :-). A good deal of this is down to having SIMs that allow consumers to pick the best packages for them. For instance making weekend calls on one SIM; or using its data plan; whilst still being available for inbound calls on another number. This tends to be more popular in developing world countries

    Apple and Google Partners | Re/code – Google partners starts to look a look a lot like Microsoft in terms of the adverse relationships that its partners have. Google partners mirror the history of Microsoft partners like Nokia, HTC, Nortel, PC manufacturers and Sendo