josepheiswerth

According to Thornburg (2014a), a disruptive technology is a technology that eradicates another technology. One example is the microchip that replaced vacuum tubes that used an overabundance of electricity and burnt out over time like light-bulbs (Thornburg, 2014a). Google Glass has the opportunity to disrupt smartphones and desktop and laptop computers.

Healthcare is the field most closely linked to Google Glass. In the healthcare field, The Google Glass app Medipad, used in conjunction with an iPad, gives doctors instant access to patient records, check patient vitals in real time, and collaborate with other doctors by sharing what they are viewing when performing surgery (Baraniuk, 2014). In addition, doctors, via the Drchrono app for Google Glass, can store and share photos and videos with their patients (Farr, 2014). Google Glass facilitates doctor-doctor and doctor-patient collaboration.

In Education, Google Glass has the potential to assist students with autism. Brain Power is an app that assists children with autism recognize social cues, learn social skills, and give feedback to caretakers and teachers (Kraft, 2015). Apps such as Brain Power may lead the way to more apps to assist people with autism.

One major social implication of Google glass is privacy. In the medical field, how can doctors and patients be certain that confidential information does not become public? The same holds true in the Education field. If teachers and students begin to use Google Glass in similar fashions as healthcare professionals, how can teachers and administrators be certain that records remain private?

Safety is another factor involved with Google Glass. According to the results of a study conducted by Sawyer et al., (2014), wearing Google Glass and messaging while driving did impair drivers. Legislators may want to include Wearable technologies with texting laws in order to prevent accidents.

It is possible that the technology that disrupts Google Glass is already in the making. I predict that, within the next 10 years, there will be an emerging technology that puts the Google Glass on the shelf with compact discs.

References

Baraniuk, C. (11 June 2014). Doctors with iPads could transform hospital care. New Scientist. Retrieved from www. newscientist.com.

Farr, C. (12 June 2014). Startup launches ‘first wearable health record’ for Google Glass. Reuters. Retrieved from www.reuters.com.

Kraft, J (11 September 2015). Can this Google Glass app help kids with autism?. KQED. Retrieved from http://www.kqed.org.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). David Thornburg: Disruptive technologies [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Sawyer, B., Finomore, V., Calvo, A., & Hancock, P. (2014 November). Google Glass: A driver distraction cause or cure?. Human Factors: The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society(56), 1307-1321. doi:10.1177/0018720814555723.

Dr. David Thornburg coined the phrase, “rhymes of history” because he noticed a similarity in evolving technologies to Mark Twain’s notion that history may not necessarily repeat itself, but it rhymes a lot (Laureate, 2014h). According to Thornburg, rhymes of history occur when a new technology rekindles or affects something that humans want to do and causes humans to either do it more easily or over a broader scale (Thornburg, 2014h). Listening to recorded music has been rekindled over the past century-and-a-half to the point where music “plays” digitally instead of through a mechanical device.

Thomas Edison opened the door for audio recording when he shouted ,”Mary had a little lamb” in a horn (microphone) attached to a stylus, a cylinder wrapped in foil, and another horn used as a speaker. The sound vibrations moved the stylus over the cylinder, which, when Edison moved the stylus back to the original position, allowed a re-playing of the recording. Humans now had the ability to record and play sound, especially music.

The first rekindling of recorded music came with the diamond disc, which looks like the vinyl records some of us grew up with. The biggest difference between the diamond disc and the vinyl disc is that the diamond disc is heavy and not flexible, whereas vinyl discs are lighter and floppy.

The next rekindling of recorded music came with tape. Cassette tapes were the most popular. However, reel-to-reel and 8-track tapes were prevalent modes of music listening during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Cassettes were lighter, smaller, and more portable than their big, bulky counterparts, so they sustained throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The cassette’s size allowed listeners to use portable devices such as the Walkman and the boom-box in order to have their music with them everywhere they went.

In the 1980s, digital recordings arrived with the compact disc. Instead of a stylus or mechanical head, a laser beam read digitally imprinted information and transferred the information into sound. Not only did compact discs bring clearer sound, but also, when used properly, they would not wear out like records and tapes did after multiple uses.

The next rekindling of music listening took place when listeners accessed music digitally from the Internet and stored it in digital music players such as mobile phones, mp3 players, and i-pods. There no longer was a need for music lovers to use mechanical devices to listen to their music. Listeners have the opportunity to keep thousands of songs in digital libraries in the palms of their hands. What will be the next technology that rekindles music listening?

For a more detailed history of music recording, please visit http://www.recording-history.org/

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014h). David Thornburg: Rhymes of history [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.