I have always been fascinated with the rapid evolution of technology. Thirty years ago – long before digital cameras and HDTV were invented – companies used multi-image, or multi-projector, large screen slide shows that were synchronized to motivational soundtracks. When large screen video was introduced, multi-image and photography professionals believed that it would never compete with the crisp, high quality images of 35mm slides. The industry didn’t anticipate how quickly the public would accept large screen video, despite its inferior image quality to large screen video. In a matter of months, 35mm slide companies went out of business or had to reinvent themselves to make way for the new large screen video technology. Technology evolves rapidly.
From a retail perspective, the film distribution industry has also changed dramatically. Local video stores like Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and others boomed with business for over a decade, renting VHS tapes to a wide variety of customers. Soon that technology was replaced with DVDs, and later Blu-Ray high definition discs. With the advent of online streaming for movies and television shows, many of the retail stores closed due to declining sales, and were replaced with external DVD and Blu-Ray kiosks like Red Box and others. As cable companies innovated new ways to provide more bandwidth to customers, online video streaming became the latest feature in evolving technology. Now you can order new and old movies from the comfort of your home thanks to Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, Amazon Prime and a host of other online services. Thirty years ago, the thought of streaming video to a telephone would have been unthinkable. Today you can stream broadcasts of your favorite shows, news and sports events, and other entertainment to your home, cell phone, tablet and other devices.
Where is business technology going?
According to Forbes*, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has partnered with Samsung on a new adventure to revolutionize communications via mobile Virtual Reality (VR). Using a Gear 360 camera and a virtual reality headset, VR via mobile phone will soon be a reality. In the 2015 movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, there is a scene where two men are sitting in a boardroom. When they put on special glasses, holograms of other Kingsman agents sitting around the table appear – virtual reality achieved through eyeglasses. The Kingsman virtual reality boardroom is now on its way to being a reality, thanks to the creative efforts of Samsung and Facebook’s mobile VR project. Dick Tracy, a police detective character from the 1931 comic strip, had a wristwatch that functioned as a two-way radio. What was science fiction back then is now being sold in retail stores under the brands of Samsung, Sony, Qualcomm and Apple. In the 1989 movie, Back To the Future 2, the main character, Marty McFly escapes his enemies on a hoverboard (a skateboard without wheels). Lexus released its first hoverboard, propelled by magnets and conducting blocks cooled by liquid nitrogen, last summer. Who would have thought 20 years ago that you could watch television on your computer, have portable music devices the size of a packet of matches or 110” Ultra HDTV flat screen televisions in our homes?
Innovations in Internet technology are also transforming the ways in which companies conduct business and connect globally. Google Hangout provides on-air conferences that stream live to YouTube so anyone around the world can watch conference proceedings and webcasts online. Take that reality a step further and imagine what Google could do if Hangouts were combined with Facebook’s emerging virtual reality (VR) technology. Instead of posting updates on Facebook, you have a VR reunion with family members all over the world. Rather than trying to schedule in-person business meetings for your company to pitch new ideas, you can have VR collaboration meetings that connect Bangkok and Beijing with New York. Add 3D printing to the mix and now you’ve opened the door to world-wide product development and innovation meetings without leaving your office or home. One might argue that we can basically do that now with video conferences using Skype, but VR takes everything to the next level. Colleagues can walk around the room with you without really being there, see what you are seeing, and work side-by-side with you from across the globe. According to Entrepreneur.com, even McDonalds is getting into the VR conversation by rolling out a VR viewer that can be constructed from a Happy Meal box. As advanced as technology has become over the past 30 years, we are just scratching the surface of possibilities of technology for business. To quote an old Bachman-Turner Overdrive song, “You ain’t seen nothin yet.”
If you want to learn more about me, visit my LinkedIn profile, my Twitter account, my website and my blog.
*To read the Forbes article, cut and paste this link into your browser. http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2016/02/22/mark-zuckerberg-virtual-reality-samsung-galaxy-s7/#17dec0ac4a64
Photo Credit: Kingsman: The Secret Service
gregpalmer7 