Think about the Information Age and how the Digital Revolution made that possible. Both are game changers for the world in how we do business, work, play, handle money, and any number of normal daily tasks. In fact, digital technology has become so much a part of our lives that we ignore the changes that have taken place over the last ten years.
Once upon a time you had to stand in line at a bank to cash a check. There was signature verification, and it took several days for the money to be made available to you. Now there is Direct Deposit for almost every kind of financial transaction, whether it is your pay check or an income tax refund. There are smartphone apps that let you take a picture of the check and send it to the bank to be deposited. No bank visit required.
It’s clear that the Digital Revolution will have just as much impact, if not more than, previous technology revolutions like the Industrial Revolution. It changed the way people lived and looked at life, and that’s what is happening now.
If you buy a new car, most of the functions are controlled by a computer chip in the car. The computer controls everything from the power windows to the digital readouts on the dashboard. (Personally, I like the digital readouts.) But that brings with it some problems because of something goes wrong with the computer chip you could have some serious problems with your car. If you are like most people, your car breaking down is a major event.
Think about how music and movies have changed our lives over the last decade or so. Once music had to be bought on a physical medium, like a CD or DVD. Now you can download everything onto your computer and play it back and get the same sound and video quality as the CD or DVD – sometimes even better. The cost has dropped, even though there are still some people complaining about the prices.
Here is another way the digital revolution has become a part of your daily life – the telephone. Because of smartphone and cell phone digital technology, there are places in the country where it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a public phone. Cities and towns have had to remove many of the old-fashioned cord phones because no one was using them. These days if you don’t have a cell phone of some type, even if you are a teenager, people wonder why not. Like other products, the digital revolution has resulted in the lowering of prices of what were once expensive products. A telephone is considered a necessity instead of an option for most people today.
The current wave of technology is the mobile device, and it is being expanded into the workplace by wearable technology. This is technology that you can wear on clothing or your body, like an Apple Watch, and it will send and receive data automatically. Some younger employees are asking for this type of technology to make their jobs easier and raise their personal productivity level. This not something that is happening by accident.
Unknowingly, all of us have entered the Digital Revolution with open arms, and depend on digital technology far more than even 5 years ago. The impact of the Digital Revolution is just starting to be felt.