Impact of new technology

You are very lucky to be living at these times, when humanity is at its peak and everything is tailored for the individual… a milieu where everything spells CONVENIENCE and the by-word is portability. According to PCWorld. com, we are living in the golden age of gadgets. Gadget review says the word ‘gadget’ could be defined as a new, unusual device, mostly used for entertainment; yet also for household and security. Gadgets seem to have invaded all aspects of human life.

They are so diversified they are everywhere. They are in the office, at home, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, etc., but most of all they are with you… almost all the time. Yes, you are right… it’s because you carry them with you. For the past 150 years, it is hard to believe the amount of technology that has been developed, tested and implemented in order to bring us to the current condition our society operates. Various technologies have been developed and this doesn’t exempt Audio Technology. Audio technology dates as far back as 1877 when Sir Thomas Alva Edison successfully makes a recording of his voice reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a tinfoil phonograph.

What followed was

a lot of experimentation until Philips introduced the first compact audio cassette or cassette tape n 1962. But it was only on 1979 that Sony introduced the Sony Walkman, a portable cassette player that has revolutionize the way we listen to music. The launch of this product created the multi-million dollar portable music industry that we know today. During this era, the 5-inch Compact Discs (CDs) were developed along with the digital audio CDs.

Sony also launched the 3-inch cassettes and the Pocket Discman playing 3-inch CDs while in Germany under the project name of EUREKA, Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen began the development of the MP3 (MPEG Layer Audio III). The 90’s pave the way for audio digital revolution. Sony came out with the mini-discs, IBM and Toshiba team up to create flash-memory cards, MP3. com site was founded by Michael Robertson, Rio PMP300, Napster and SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc) were introduced. Just 3 years later, November of 2001, Apple shipped its first line of iPod portable audio players.

What revolutionizing move done by Sony’s Walkman forever changed the way that people consume music by allowing them to listen to their favourite music, privately, wherever they chose, whenever. The portable music player remained fairly static for ten years or so until CD came along, bringing higher fidelity and more convenience. When MiniDisc appeared, it introduced personal digital music players reigniting consumer interest in mobile music showing consumers what really is possible. Manufacturers then jumped with gusto to develop and market portable music.

It worked would be an understatement because in these technology-driven times everyone goes with what’s the ‘in’ thing. Looking at the industry’s development there are factors that Technological Factors hastening Mass Adoption Manufacturers over the years banked on the advantages of the technology. Portable audio products always pass the following criteria or conformity requirements reason why consumers root on them. • Audio quality – excellent sound, less noise. • Installability – easy to install and configure.

• Digital – you may call it the digital advantage, it’s actually how a system works where values can be represented by only two characters, 0 and 1. Technologies using digital system are more reliable, easy to correct and archive. • Interoperability – ability of products, systems, or business processes to work together to accomplish a common task. Can also be termed as compatibility. Cultural Factors promoting Mass Adoption • Ease of use – convenience has become the operative word in our society and it is bound not to change. This is more known as the quality of being user-friendly.

• Portable – the carry anywhere, on-the-go characteristic of a product. Since the advent of Sony’s walkman people seem to have been hooked with the ease of carrying things around. For office people it would serve as office away from the office; for the trendsetters it’s a fashion plus; and for any practical individual it would be getting a hand of their much needed equipment. • Appeal – be it sleekness, color, or ergonomic design or even sex appeal these audio gadgets are customized for individual markets they have one message to teenagers, young professionals and even to business people – “take me home”.

Style is essential, it should be able to grab the markets attention and at the same time create emotional appeal if not engagement. • Robustness – what consumers consider as “extra”. For portable audio it would be more than just music, more than just sound. Consumers are becoming more demanding. For example, consumers would prefer a much more sophisticated MP3 player than a simple one. With sophistication, that could mean all other features added on the product be it a business feature or a simple entertainment one. The cutting-edge quality of a product can be categorized here.

• Reliability – is the agreement between two efforts to measure the same trait through maximally different methods. It can also mean the fulfillment of what has been promised or what has been specified. • Adaptability – the ability to change or be changed to fit changed circumstances; it can also be flexibility or a products versatility characteristic. • Price – though manufacturers can run away with the money by launching an outstanding marketing plan, price always remain a factor in the customer’s agenda. Value for money always matters.

Because of these factors portable audio has maneuvered itself from being a simple luxury to becoming necessity – or standard equipment or tool to some. This holds true in the U. K. as well as for the rest of the world bringing about a revolution – a generation living a mediated technology dependent lives. On another front, the world, U. K. being not an exemption has witnessed the industry’s battle of the brands. This is not just happening with Audio Technology but holds true in all technologically-inspired fields like communication.

Let’s take for axample Amazon’s recent efforts to release their own music player. In this sphere, Amazon is looking to compete with iTunes and Apple’s dominance in the music downloading sector. Initially, Apple surprised everyone with the foray into the music player and download market. What was even more surprising was they were able to pull it off, shown by their recent celebration of the 1 billionth downloaded song. Apple continues to command the largest market share, while warding off attempts from the likes of Walmart (the largest brick and mortar music retailer in the US.

) British conservative ideology has always been two-fold since the 80’s, “free market and strong state,” this has shaped British policing policy until the 1990s. As the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Peter Mandelson has commented, “My vision for the UK is to create a knowledge-driven economy in which knowledge is exploited to the full in developing new products and services and in making existing industries more efficient and productive… I want Britain to be Europe’s digital pathfinder the natural home for new digital products and services.

” These words are more than encouragement it poses as a challenge for the whole country to take on to maximize its resources and come up with outstanding products. The UK has strengthened its campaign for the development of new technologies. It has extended its efforts and strengths and also its initiatives into assisting companies of all sizes to create products for various industries. UK continues its efforts to create convergence; it has even deregulated its market to pave way to new operations creating competitive services. UK currently is proud to be the telecommunications hub in the Europe.

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