Last week, due to the fact that I just haven't gotten around to writing this any time other than last minute, we discussed the history and ideology of early digital media.
We looked at how computers had developed across their 'lifetime', how people had reacted to them, and their adoption into mainstream western culture.
I learned that computers went back earlier than I had first thought. And also I understood various ways they were used before monitors and keyboards. The military used computers to calculate the angle to fire shells so that they could hit their targets. The job used to be done by people in a room, doing complex math calculations, which of course led to mistakes being made, and as such, people died. They finally got a computer to do these calculations, without a monitor, or a printer. Someone still had to write down what the computer told them. Which led to deaths. That's where it started, and carried on with the military though code breaking and missiles, and other developments.
The military used monitors for satellite and digital imaging, which is now readily available to anyone who wants to use it with programmes like Google Earth. Flight simulators were another critical advancement. Who would like to teach someone to fly a million dollar plane by actually letting that person loose with one, it can now be safely done with flight simulators, some of which are even considered video games. I have had a talk with a man who used to be a pilot in the RAF in relation to Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X which is a game based on military aeroplane missions. He was amazed at how realistic they had made the planes feel and look, and it took him back to his 'glory days'.
The early stages of the internet were also military. They linked US universities with each other that were working on US military projects. In the 80s it was split into military and civilian sectors, which gave hackers the 'workspace' they needed to create.
Music took on technology too, look at the electric guitar or synthesisers. These were huge in the 80s as technology was booming. That period still holds some of the best music ever created, well, I think so anyway.
All around this time there were constant developments in technology, early Microsoft and Apple teams were sat in computer homebrew meetings, and working on their own technologies there.
Eventually the internet came along. The internet changed everything. You ask most people these days, they will have a computer and an internet connection. It has even become a legal right in Finland, a free 1Mb connection for everyone. You can find out most things you want to know right from your home, go shopping without leaving your house and calling Australia for free! Myself, I have friends in America, Australia, Canada, and all over Europe, without the internet and MSN Messenger, it would be almost impossible for me to maintain my relationships with them. Yes, I could always write a letter, but you must have heard how the postal system in England is going. Not well, sir.
Video games have a completely different meaning now, with the development of Xbox Live, World of Warcraft (Which has a user base of the population of a small country!) Playstation Network and so on; you can play a game with someone across the world like they were sat next to you. I find myself losing interest in a game once I have completed single player, and multiplayer will keep me coming back, £40 a go, you can't afford to play it for a week and ditch it. Multiplayer is becoming a necessity.
Looking at how far technology has come, I know it can go further, I want to see whats next, and it can't be any further than just around the corner. But it's hard to think how it could get any better. Maybe it's just my lack or creativity, but I can't imagine technology, the internet, being any better than it is now. Maybe we will get Star Trek teleporters, and food replicators, it sounds ridiculous. The internet was a dream once.
