Session 11 – Group Presentations (1)

Being an Econs student and taking 2 maths modules this semester, TWC has definitely been the most enjoyable module I took this semester. Although many would complain about the amount of workload, but looking back, I would say more than the huge amount of workload we had, like blogging, individual report, presentation etc, I would prefer to do all these assignments than to sit for tests after tests. Technology and world change is such a broad topic and one’s knowledge about this course is not limited to the questions of the exam papers only.

From someone who knew little about the latest technology, to someone who has develop an interest for future technologies and what the future will bring. I guess that’s one of the greatest takeaway from this course. More than just knowledge and reading off textbooks, its the habit of keeping up with the latest innovation and anticipating the future that really changed who I am since the start of the course.  It has changed my perspectives of technology and its implications on human beings, it has opened up my eyes to the new realm of technologies, sparking a new wave of imaginations. After all, the seed of an innovation was birthed by an imagination.

Today, we had 3 group presentations and my group was one of them.

Technology and The Arts – http://www.wix.com/cynthiarteo/technologyandthearts 

One interesting question raised to the class by the group was, between a mechanical pencil and wooden pencil, which will you choose to use for your art piece?

For me, i will choose both because both kind of pencils give a different touch and feel to the art work. Mechanical pencil would probably give a much cleaner look, while wooden pencil would give  a more dirty feel to it.

Technology for the Physically Disabled – http://www.wix.com/karishmaunwsg/tpc4twc 

It’s interesting to see how there’s so many different kind of technologies out there invented for the hearing impaired,visually impaired etc.

Social Media and Us – http://www.wix.com/gladyssin/twc1 

Embarking on this project has definitely opened my eyes to the endless opportunities presented tot eh world by the presence of social media. Social media is a double edged sword, if only we were taught the right way to use it, imagine what tremendous benefits it can bring about to the world today?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Session 10 – Technology Assessment and Forecasting; Developing a Framework for Understanding What Comes Next

 

Last official session with Prof, light hearted, intriguing and mind changing.

Today we looked into the future and examine what it holds, as usual, Prof started the lesson by showing the class a couple of videos and quotes from the dead.

“It is said that the present is pregnant with the future.”

–          Voltaire –

Particularly love the quote above.

The first thing that came to my mind when I think of this phrase is the picture of a pregnant woman. From the moment the embryo is first formed in the mother’s womb to the stage when the mother gives birth to the baby, it takes around 9 months. During the 9 months period, it is crucial what the mother consumes into her body as what she feeds on will affect the level of nutrition the foetus receives. And this will in turn affect how healthy the baby will be when it is born.

This is like an innovation, from the time the idea is being conceived (Present) to the birth of the invention (future). It is important that during this period that we feed the ideas with the right “nutrition” to ensure that the invention is a mind blower, just like a healthy baby and not one that is deformed or sickly.

Interestingly, I watched two movies this week, In Time and Real Steel. Both are movies about science and technology and it brings us into an era of the future, where robots boxing exist and humans are genetically modified to stay 25 years old forever.

It seems as though we can predict the future through the various foresight methods and roadmapping technological advancements, but i believe just like how we are able to come up with technologies to predict the coming of natural disasters, we can still never be fully prepared for them and often, we still find ourselves overwhelmed by the scale of the damage brought about by the disasters. I believe that this is similar to any invention that will occur in the future, we may predict it, but somehow, the invention will far exceed what our human minds can imagine at our current state of mind because human are always progressing and our minds are in a constant realm of imaginations.

overall i will give a rating of 10/10 for today’s lesson! its the last session and i’m going to miss the videos and all the quotes.

Session 9: Emerging and Future Technologies

Brief Overview

Today’s session we looked into the future and emerging technologies. As usual, Professor showed us many videos and they were really fascinating. This session is really about imagining what is possible for the future and having a rising star mindsets which believes in changing the world.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’

But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’”

– George Bernard Shaw –

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

-Albert Einstein –

A rising mindset, why not? I think we need more people who challenges the present, why not, this quote reminds me of steve jobs. He is truly a remarkable leader in his field and he left behind a legacy which people will remember for years to come.

I think that having both knowledge and imagination is equally important. Without knowledge, you cannot bring to pass your imaginations. Without imaginations your knowledge become obsolete and there will be no progress and you will always be stuck in your own box.

A woman robot?

Robots cannot develop feelings like humans can but they can simulate feelings. At the end of the day, what really makes a human a human is the emotional feeling. Thus, robots can never replace human even though they may be automated to express feelings. Robots can satisfy humans physical and mental needs, but emotional needs is something that a robot will never be able to do so.

Should we ban robots? Into a new world of knowledge economy, what will happen to the people whose jobs which involves menial tasks and are now replaced by robots? The traditional approach of “you work to get paid” will not work in the knowledge economy because at that stage, everyone will be living a life of comfort, but who will be doing the job of bringing in the income and resources needed to maintain our state of comfort?

Prof proposed the above challenge to us, the problem with income distribution in the future where almost everything is done computed and done by robots.

I particularly liked reading 4, especially on the emerging technology on augmented reality. After watching the video on augmented reality and reading 4 on it, I’m really fascinated by it. The world should start using augmented reality to conduct lessons in schools.

There’s many emerging technologies, but i guess the main challenge will be equipping people with the right skills and knowledge to tap onto these technologies and to prevent the abuse of such technologies.

 Key Takeways

“Innovation distinguishes the leader from the follower.”

– Steve Jobs –

One debate brought up was is the above sentence applicable to the leaders in different fields. We can easily associate this phrase with business leaders like Steve Jobs, where the field constantly requires them to churn out new products to take the world by storm. But would we say that political leaders are innovative people too?  I think yes, political leaders must come up with policies that will bring forth the economy. What worked 3years back for the country, may not work for the present and thus the need to come up with innovative policies to ensure sustainable growth for the economy. By looking from this perspective, I believe Singapore political leaders has done a fairly good job.

Personal Rating

9/10. Love the interesting debates and presentations.

Individual Report

1. 1.      Executive Summary

 

Stop to think for a moment, what will happen if you found out that YouTube has just been banned in your country and you can no longer access to the videos on the website. How would you feel? What would your reaction be? Will your life be affected by it drastically or nothing is going to change and life still goes on as per normal?

 

For me, I would be driven to madness. Being a person who spends at least one hour on YouTube daily exploring the different new videos, the sudden loss of an entertainment source will definitely make me feel as though there’s a void in my life that cannot be filled by anything else. That’s how significant YouTube is in my life today. It’s an undeniable hard truth that I have come to terms with and accept it. My situation is definitely not a unique one because I believe that there are many people out there who are experiencing the similar situation as me.

 

YouTube has brought about a revolutionary change in today’s world. It has changed the way we think, communicate, and share ideas. Redefining the way people perceive how videos should be viewed and shared. YouTube has sneakily become an integral part of our daily lives without us realizing it.

 

Google provides information while YouTube provides us with visual information. We can find almost any type of videos on YouTube, educational videos, movies, variety shows, teenage drama, and music videos. It has served as a platform for people across the globe to exchange ideas and connect with one another.

 

This report will walk you through in the different ways in which YouTube has radically changed our lives, mainly the political aspect and the music industry.  Moving from there, we will then explore and predict the future of YouTube and how it will extend its impact on the world.

 

1. 2.      Background/Introduction

 

Founded by three ex-PayPal employees, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim in 2005, YouTube has created many timely innovations that made it successful, paving its way to an acquisition by Google for $1.65 Billion dollars in November 2006.

 

YouTube has exceeded 2 billion views a day, nearly double the prime-time audience of all 3 major U.S. broadcast network combined. 24 hours of video are uploaded every minute and an average person spends 15minutes a day on YouTube.

 

YouTube’s vision is to give everyone a voice, to evolve video, and to make their partners and advertisers successful.

 

 

 

1. 3.      Historical Perspective

 

Before YouTube was birthed, what was the world like? How did we share videos with each other?

 

There were a few video sharing websites like collegehumour, which features comedy videos created by the sites production team and videos posted by users. However, these websites were not able to reach the success of YouTube as the videos shared on the sites were narrowed down to one genre mostly. Unlike YouTube which allows all types and different kinds of videos to be shared on the platform which enables it to appeal to the preference of each and every unique individual.

There were other forms of entertainment like the television, movies, theatres and concerts performances. But one thing they all lack is the flexibility and variety. To watch the next episode of your favourite television drama, you would have to wait for a couple of hours or days and the viewers are often at the mercy of the broadcasting company.

1. 4.      Current Situation

4.1 Political Issues

A video shows a single line of people slowly trudging up a snow-covered footpath. A shot is heard; the first person in line falls. A voice-over says, “They are shooting them like dogs.” Another shot, and another body drops to the ground. A uniformed Chinese soldier fires his rifle again. Then, a group of soldiers examines the fallen bodies. These images were captured high in the Himalayas by a member of a mountaineering expedition who claims to have stumbled upon the killing. The video first aired on Romanian television, but it only gained worldwide attention when it was posted on YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site. Human rights groups explained that the slain were a group of Tibetan refugees that included monks, women, and children. According to the Chinese government, the soldiers had fired in self-defense after they were attacked by 70 refugees. The posted video seems to render that explanation absurd. The U.S. ambassador to China quickly lodged a complaint protesting China’s treatment of the refugees.

This is the phenomenon of YouTube, where a video uploaded on the site by any stranger on this planet earth is able to be disseminated rapidly, uncontrollably and reach its intended audience in the shortest time possible. The impact and effects brought by the video is often immediate and has the potential to harm and cause significant damages to the political and economic sphere of the county. The fact that YouTube is able to record a 2 billion global video views per week simply tell it all.

Currently, over 48 hours of video are uploaded to the site each minute. All sort of videos with different length, short and long. Different genres like comedy, romance, horror, scientific and technology. Most of the videos are frivolous, produced and targeted at teenagers. But some are serious. YouTube includes videos posted by terrorists, human rights groups, and soldiers fighting in a war. Some clips reveal an incident that has political consequences on a country. Some document important trends, such as world hunger and global warming. Some videos bring to light important truth hidden from the world. Others spread disinformation, propaganda, and outright lies. All are part of the YouTube effect.

Recognizing the power of citizen-produced and Web-distributed videos as the ultimate testimony, human rights group has armed individuals in war-torn zones with video recording devices so that they will be able to record and expose human rights

Israel has taken its barrage of airstrikes in Gaza to the Web, creating a YouTube channel to post footage of its air force dropping bombs on Hamas targets.

The Israel Defense Forces said Israel wanted to use YouTube to “help us bring our message to the world” with “exclusive footage showing the IDF’s operation success” in Gaza. It was their way of reaching out to the masses and garnering as much attention as possible.

 

By the third day, the channel had 5,600 subscribers and 16 videos posted. The most popular video was titled “Israeli Air Force Strikes Hamas Government Complex,” which shows a large compound with three structures methodically leveled in an air assault Tuesday.

The YouTube effect has brought other mixed blessings. We find it increasingly hard to believe what we just saw in the YouTube video we watched a couple of moments ago. Disbelief and doubts sets in as we question the reliability of the source.  How do we know that what we see in a video clip posted by a “citizen journalist” is not a montage? How do we know, for example, that the YouTube video of terrorized American soldiers crying and praying for their lives while under fire was filmed in Iraq and not staged somewhere else to manipulate public opinion? The more than 86,000 people who viewed it in the first 10 days of its posting will never know.

 

Governments are already feeling the heat of the YouTube effect. The U.S. military recently ordered its soldiers to stop posting videos unless they have been vetted. The Iranian government restricts connection speeds to limit its people’s access to video streaming. These measures have not stopped the proliferation of Web videos shot by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, or savvy Iranians from viewing the images they want to see. And, though Beijing has been effective in censoring the content its citizens can view, it has yet to figure out a way to prevent a growing number of videos of peasant rebellions from being posted online. In the long run, all such efforts will fail.

 

When it comes to having faith in what we see online, the good news is that the YouTube effect is already creating a strong demand for reliable guides–individuals, institutions, and technologies that we can trust to help us sort facts from lies. That is important, because the hope of countering the downsides of the YouTube effect will never come from government intervention. Markets and democracy do a much better job of filtering the bad from the good in the confusing tsunami
of Web videos coming our way. The millions of bloggers who are constantly watching, fact-checking, and exposing mistakes are a powerful example of “the wisdom of crowds” at work.Sure, markets and democracies often fail or disappoint. But the openness these political and economic forces promote are now being assisted by a technology that is as omnipresent as we are.

 

CitizenTube is YouTube’s News and Politics Blog where people gain an access to important breaking news videos from citizens; developing trends in the use of YouTube by news organizations, activists, politicians, and governments.

4.2 Impact on the Music Industry

Imagine this for a moment. The girl-next-door whom you grew up with turns out to be the girl who received a million hits on the video she posted on YouTube a couple of weeks back. You start to notice that she has become the main sensational topic among people within your social circle, people from your school, workplace and community. Her Facebook page is flooded with comments of people from all over the world and suddenly, there’s a Facebook page created for her with thousands of fans. The truth finally hits you and you realise that she’s no longer the same girl whom you played hide-and-seek with during your childhood days, but she’s a star now. What ever happened to this girl-next-door whom nobody once knew?  That’s what we call, the “YouTube Effect”.

Not only has YouTube changed the way we share music in our world today, it has created a platform for one to showcase and market their music, talents and abilities. Many youths today who aspire to be the “Next Big Thing” has turned to uploading videos of themselves performing a song, a dance or any other artistic talent onto YouTube. These videos has not only generated buzz and awareness from the public, but it has opened up doors of opportunities for these talented youths to be discovered by big label companies and eventually be groomed to become a full fletched artist. Maria Aragon, a ten years old girl from Philippine is a classic example in this case. Her cover of Lady Gaga’s hit song “Born This Way” received 11 million views in a short span of one week, and to date, it has reached over 42 million hits. Her life has changed radically in a way she never dreamt of since her video has caught the attention of many and won the hearts of those who watched it. She was given the opportunity to perform with Lady Gaga at The Monster Ball Tour concert in Toronto and was later signed on by Star Records, a leading recording company in the Philippines.

What’s amazing about YouTube is the vast amount of viewers it has been attracting daily to its site. Statistics shows that the YouTube site has hit three billion views per day as the site celebrates its sixth birthday. The idea that one could become a superstar overnight has captivated the hearts of many youths and led to a rise in the number of youths posting videos of themselves on the site, hoping to be the next Maria Aragon. YouTube has surpassed almost all physical limitations one could possibly face in the pursuit of stardom. The cost of producing a video and posting it onto YouTube is almost zero in today’s tech savvy generation where most youths own digital equipment that possess the capability to capture motion pictures.  The ease of uploading it onto YouTube and the instantaneous results one receives in the form of commentaries and number of views gives the youth a sense of achievement and pride, perpetuating the idea of a leap to stardom.

Boyce Avenue, Sam Tsui,  Kurt are YouTube stars who have not only created a name for themselves but have also etched out a money-making career. YouTube has helped served as an advertising platform for their music productions which are made available on itunes for sale.

Seeing the potential of how YouTube enables one to reach out to a greater audience and open up a niche market in countries, many record labelling companies has embraced YouTube and have since actively promoted singers under their label by posting music videos of their artist on YouTube.

Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” which is the first YouTube video to be viewed a half billion times, while simultaneously holding the distinction of being one of the most disliked videos of all time. 500 million, even more than the number of people in the ____.

 

Negative effect on music industry

However, some major records labels were unpleased that YouTube was giving them a cut of revenue for streaming videos that included their music.

 

Warner Music tried to force Google to pay significantly more per stream but the end result was that all Warner Music videos on YouTube disappeared. Despite the fact that these videos where helping to drive a lot of attention for these artists, that could directly result in much greater revenue. Not only that, but they were providing a working platform for hosting and sharing videos – free.

 

Before YouTube, hosting your own videos was a complex and expensive process. You often had to set up your own (expensive) media server, and users had to install proprietary software like RealNetworks’ media player. On top of that, you had to pay a ton of money for bandwidth on every stream. YouTube gave all that away and made the user experience significantly better. It’s not hard to make the argument that the music industry should have been thrilled with the free service that Google/YouTube provided.

Many artists certainly understood this. Lots of musicians, big and small, already included YouTube videos on their official sites, and when the videos got pulled from YouTube, they were left scrambling to explain why the videos on their own websites were broken. Singer Amanda Palmer demanded publicly that Warner Music drop her from her contract. She encouraged fans to record her live at shows and to put those videos up on YouTube. A favorite song? One where she sang about how much she disliked Warner Music, and why the label should drop her.

 

Meanwhile, those artists who remained on YouTube quickly realized that there was a tremendous advantage to having videos there, even if Google wasn’t paying them directly. Blues singer Joe Bonamassa said that the fact that his music was available for free on YouTube increased attendance at his shows by a factor of ten. People in the cities and towns where he was playing would share his videos, and that made them much more interested in attending his shows. It had a direct and clear impact on his own income.

 

All of that should have been clear to folks at Warner Music or PRS, but instead, fear ruled the day. Their biggest fear was creating another MTV. When MTV first came about, it, like YouTube, was a great way to promote musicians. Back when MTV still showed music videos it helped many people learn about new bands, buy their albums and go to their shows. But the record labels got jealous that MTV was making all this money off their content. They failed to realise that they, too, were making lots of money in making their own acts more popular. In the world of record label execs, this wasn’t a fair deal. Anyone promoting their content must pay. So, the stance taken towards YouTube has been one of less promotion and less money, even as smarter musicians are benefiting from the free hosting and free software.

The end result, unfortunately, has been that almost everyone loses. Musicians get less exposure. YouTube gets less usage. Fans are left in the dark (or hunting around on less reputable sites for music videos). YouTube was a huge opportunity for the record labels, and they spent years messing it up.

 

1. 5.      Future Considerations

Considering the widespread impact YouTube has on our lives, it is undeniable that it has brought about a revolutionary change on how we view videos should be shared.

Although there are numerous video sharing website like DailyMotion and Hulu sprouting up on the internet after the birth of YouTube, none of them has been able to exert the kind of influence YouTube has over our lives.

I believe that as the internet becomes even more accessible in the third world nations,we will start to see the empowerment of the poor, the unheard, the discriminated as they master the power of YouTube.

YouTube has also merged social networks like facebook, enabling users to embed YouTube videos onto their FaceBook page.

 

1. 6.      Conclusion

Having look at how YouTube has shape and changed our daily lives from mainly the political and music industry point of views, YouTube has definitely a long way to go and it will definitely bring about a greater change in our lives as people start to master the tool to their advantage.

 

 

1. 7.      References

 

http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/2011/01/five-years-of-youtube-statistics-and.html

 

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-12-31/world/israel.youtube_1_youtube-video-idf?_s=PM:WORLD

 

http://www.citizentube.com/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/46068/The-YouTube-Effect

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2073962/New-YouTube-Statistics-48-Hours-of-Video-Uploaded-Per-Minute-3-Billion-Views-Per-Day

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/youtube-statistics-birthday_n_866707.html

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/332654/maria-aragon-sing-national-anthem-manny-pacquiaos-fight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Aragon

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6832196/How-the-record-labels-spurned-the-YouTube-opportunity.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Session 8: Energy and World Change

Brief Overview

Today’s session was on energy and world change. It was also my first individual presentation in SMU where I shared with the class on a portable waste-energy machine called the GEM, Green Energy Machine.

We touched on areas like why there was a need for renewable energy, the possibility of 100% renewable energy by 2050 and how different economies were actively pursuing green technologies.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

“Less than 1 hour of sunlight is enough to meet all our energy needs”

Why are we not tapping on solar energy and capturing the full potential of energy from the sunlight when it can meet all our energy needs? Honestly, I have no idea. Humans are weird.

This reminds me of the article on the healthcare industry where innovations are constantly being suppressed by the large healthcare companies because they pose a threat to the profits of these companies. Strict regulations and the existence of oligopolies in the healthcare industry pose as a barrier to the entrance of new businesses that have newer and cheaper methods of diagnosing certain diseases or test kits.

The above situation may be true for the green energy industry too. Many successful green movements are often backed by the government body, as seen in the case of the solar energy project in Germany.

The GEM Video.

I believe this GEM is a feasible idea especially in disaster hit areas where huge amounts of waste has to be cleared. In disaster hit areas, manpower and funds are often directed to providing aid to the victims in the form of foods, clothes, housing. Little is being done to clear the mess left behind which is the first step to rebuilding the town. However, clearing up the mess imposes a heavy economical costs on the economy. And the GEM is definitely a feasible solution the problem.

Key Takeaways

Global warming is real but many people are still living for today and not for the future. I think it’s time for people to take ownership for their planet, to care for the planet and ensure that the future generations have sufficient resources they need.

We need to start moving from a society that is built upon comfort, to a society of concern for the environment and the future generation.

Issues for further discussion

Discuss on where Singapore main source of energy will come from in the next 20 years.

Personal Ratings

8/10

Week 7

Brief Overview

Today’s lesson was on Biobusiness Revolution: Agribiology, Environmental Life Sciences and Industrial Biotechnology (Past, Present and Future).

There were 3 presentations this week which covered really interesting topics. Growth Hormones injected into cows, bioplastic and GM food.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

“Enough food for everyone but not for everyone’s greed” So true.

Sometimes I really wonder, with all the advancement in technology we have, genetically modified food, invention of tractors, irrigation system to ensure crops can be grown all season, why do hunger still exists?I guess it’s because food is not being trickled down to people who really needs it. It’s a problem we see daily but we choose to slide it off or brush it off simply because we can’t be bothered or we feel that there’s nothing much we can do to help solve the problem. But ignorance and indifference is going to make the problem worse because we are after all the root cause of our own problems. Our greed leads us to desire and buy more than we can consume, and then what happens to the excess? We end up throwing them. If we knew what we can consume, we could have easily saved the excess for people who really needs them and not end up wasting precious resources. The problem is, people always fail to consider whether whatever they are buying is a necessity or a want. Or worse still, they see their wants as a necessity.

Another thing that prof mentioned that has left a deep impression on me was how terminology created in GM seeds was an idea by the US government. It was definitely a shocking fact to me as I have always had the misconception that large companies created such GM seeds so as to maintain a constant inflow of profits for themselves. It never once dawned on me that the rationale behind it was to prevent GM seeds from mixing with normal seeds. So that was certainly a mind-blowing fact for me.

Key take-away

With so much growth hormones being injected into the food we consume daily, it’s no wonder there’s an increase in the outbreak of new diseases and health issues.

Organic or GM food?

Are we willing to spend more on organic food for the sake of our health if we can afford it? I guess I would. After all, taking good care of our own health is an investment where you will never stand to lose in.

But then again, if we are not able to afford organic food, then the question wouldn’t be whether we would prefer organic food over GM food. Because at the end of the day, if there’s something better, why wouldn’t we want it? But because we do not have the capacity to afford it, we have no choice but to settle for something less, at least we manage to fill our stomachs.

Issue for further discussion

Probably we could have discussed more on the future of GM food vs Organic food? :)Would be interesting to predict where the world food trend will head towards as we face greater implications from GM food and the need to provide sufficiently for our our needs.

Personal Ratings

9/10 Interesting video and presentations and thought-provoking issues raised.

TWC – week 6

Brief Overview/Summary

Started off with Microsoft’s Vision video on the future of the healthcare industry. Followed by prof sharing on the biomedical business.  There were 3 very interesting presentation this week, on prosthetic, electronic skin and cloning and ethics.

Interesting Observations & Ideas

I think its really possible for what was seen in the video to happen in 2020. Probably not in every country but some countries where the government actually heads such projects and is open to such ideas and willing to spend the money to invest in the infrastructure of the systems.

In Singapore, Guardian has implemented a webcam pharmacy in some of its outlets. I think its not only cost effective, but it also gives the pharmacist the flexibility in being able to work from home.

I actually found reading 4 of this week’s lesson very interesting. Reading 4 talks about the obstacles faced by an entrepreneur in the healthcare industry, although there’s a cheaper and better innovations available, it is often resisted by people and institutions whose livelihood are threatened. For example, an English entreprenuer has developed a system for customizing eyeglasses qucikly and efficiently. The patient will just have to put on a pair of eyeglasses with a rubber bulb attached to each stem, looking at a vision test chart and covering one eye, squeeze the bulb until he/she can read the fine print on the chart. It only takes two minutes to perfectly tailor a pair of eyeglasses at a cost of $5. Sadly, this innovation has been largely resisted by health regulators and optometrists in the field. This really got me thinking, is it morally right for health companies and hospitals to operate on the notion of profits? Or should they operate on the basis of providing low and effective healthcare treatment for people?

One disruptive innovation mentioned in the report was that before 1980, patients with diabetes could only know they had abnormal blood glucose level in their blood indirectly; inaccurate urine test or visited a doctor who drew blood and measured the glucose content on an expensive piece of laboratory equipment. Today, patients pack miniature blood glucose metere wif them and are able to test their blood level anytime, anywhere.

The article also mentioned about how patients are not given the quality healthcare they need, because many states have prevented nurse practioners from diagnosing diseases or from prescribing treatment that they are fully capable of handling, highly trained physicians are forced to do that and they end up only spending like a few minutes with the patients.

The article then went on to identify a few solution to the problems faced by the healthcare industry.

1)create a system where the clinicians skill level is matched to the difficulty level of the medical problem

2)invest less $ in high end complex technologies but in technologies that simplify complex problem

3)create opportunities for disruptive innovations to emerge in the industry

Key Take Away Points

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

– Greek Proverb –

Only when you start to think of the future generation can you bring forth radical innovations that can grow the society.

Issues for Further Discussion

Would actually loved to have discussed more on cloning and ethics and what is needed in today’s education system to equip the leaders of tomorrow with the skills and abilities to handle the prevalent problems facing the world today.

Personal Ratings for Session

8/10

 

 

 

TWC-Week 5

Brief Overview/Summary

Prof started off today’s lesson with Project Natal demo video showing Claire interacting with the virtual boy, Milo. This was later linked to reading 6 which touches on the future possibilities of virtual human.

Prof went on to talk about internet 3.0, cloud computing, and how ICT has helped to alleviate poverty, hunger issues etc.

There were 3 presentations in total. Jing Hui presented on cloud computing, Hong Sheng on elearning and Javier on TigerText. Issues raised were pretty interesting and provocative!

Interesting Observations & Ideas

One issue raised during the lesson was  “What will it take to capture the full potential of the ICT/Knowledge Revolution?”

Like what was mentioned in class, having the infrastructures followed by good management by the government and people are key. What I would also like to add on is that countries should move towards the trend of making internet a fundamental human right like what Finland has done. The internet is a powerful tool in which it is able to empower individuals with the right knowledge and help raise awareness of pressing issues. The internet will be our greatest treasure if we know how to fully exploit the information on the web to our advantage.

This brings me to Hong Sheng’s presentation on elearning and how elearning can be an effective tool in eradicating poverty in third world nations as it serves as a means to educate the poor. Really liked what prof shared about how in Nepal, there were very few schools or teachers as few were willing to sacrifice the comfort of modern lifestyle and dedicate their life to teaching the kids in rural areas. The cost of building a school, maintenance fee, hiring a teacher and teaching materials are actually more expensive then providing each child a $100 Laptop which can be used for years. I remember watching a documentary about the children in the rural parts of china, where they had to travel by foot for up to 2 hours just to get to the nearest school. This has led to many children giving up the chance to seek an education as the travelling time could be well spent on helping their parents on the field. It dawned upon me how elearning could actually change all of these. Not only is it cheaper, but educational portal like Khan academy which teaches one the basics of addition and subtraction up to higher level education stuffs could help empower an individual so much if he/she is motivated to learn.

The presentation on TigerText also got me thinking, was there a need for our SMSes to be protected before the app  existed or the TigerText app basically created that need in us? This brings us back to the video prof shared with us a few weeks back on how advertisements are constantly creating new needs in our lives and all these are just marketing strategies of corporations whose ultimate aim is to raise their profits through creating a demand for their product. And we humans stupidly fall for all these gimmicks, indeed how wiser have we become as we progress as a society in terms of greater access to information and knowledge. haha

Last thing that really got me thinking after the lesson was the video and reading 6 on virtual humans. How prof said it was basically a decision between having No One Vs Virtual Human. Of course the latter would win hands down. How cool would it be if we were able to create a virtual human according to our needs. It would definitely bring down the crime rates in a country as the virtual human would be tailored to suit one’s person needs, influencing them in the correct paths and inculcating the right values throughout the interactions made. For example, the suicide rate of elderly could be greatly reduced if they had some sort of companion, especially for those who have lost their spouse, a virtual dead human could bring so much comfort and joy to the living spouse.

It’s amazing  how humans are constantly redefining the standards of what it means to be human as technology progress. What was unacceptable back in the past are complete norms in today’s world. I guess human cloning may soon be a norm in the future yet to come.

Key Take Away Points

-To not limit myself by not being willing to try and explore new things.

-Redefining for myself what it means to be human in today’s world.

Issues for Further Discussion

Maybe we could touch more on how ICT/knowledge revolution can help to acheive the Millennium Development Goals.

Personal Ratings for Session

9/10. Love the issues raised! Very provoking! Got me thinking and reflecting alot!

 

 

Individual Topical Report Outline – YouTube

i. Specific Innovation of Interest: The invention of video sharing website YouTube.

ii. Rationale for Selecting this Innovation: YouTube has brought about a revolutionary change in today’s world. It has changed the way we think, communicate, and share ideas. Redefining the way people perceive how videos should be viewed and shared. YouTube has sneakily become a part of our daily life and doing this paper would really help me understand how YouTube has brought about such radical changes so subtly.

iii. Proposed Approach to Development of Paper:

• Executive Summary

YouTube has become an integral part of our daily lives without us realizing it. Google provides information while YouTub provides us with visual information. We can find almost any type of videos on YouTube. It has served as a platform for people across the globe to exchange ideas and connect with one another.

• Background/Introduction

Founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim in 2005, YouTube has created many timely innovations that made it successful, paving its way to an acquisition by Google for $1.65 Billion dollars.

-2 Billion views a day
-3rd most visited website (Alexa)
-Localized in 23 countries across 24 different languages
-15 The average number of minutes people spend on the site each day
-24 Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute
-45 Million home page impressions every day Update: YouTube has clarified that this is the number of daily impressions in the US alone
-70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the U.S.
-100 Years of video scanned by copyright managent technology, Content ID, every day
-1700 Years it would take you to watch the hundreds of millions of videos on YouTube

• Historical Perspective

a)    How were videos shared between people previously?

b)    How was media viewed by people in the past?

• Current Situation

Social Issues

• Proliferation of pornography, violence and immoral values in today’s youth
• How it has helped raised awareness and garners attention to pressing issues in today’s world? For example, poverty in third world nation and the empowerment of women.
• How it has changed the way people exchange ideas and spurred greater creativity and innovation?
• How it has helped Americanized the world and dilute/strengthen local cultures?
• How YouTube can be used as an educational tool?

Political Issues

• Examine the reasons why certain countries like China and Pakistan has banned the usage of YouTube in the country
• How it has changed the political scene in countries?  How is has helped built or shattered the reputation on political leaders?

 

Economic Issues

• How is has affected the music industry both positively and negatively?
• How it has become a platform for one to market their music, talents and abilities?

• Future Considerations

Will YouTube continue to be one of the most visited sites or will it be a falling star? How will YouTube shape the future generation culturally, emotionally and the way they communicate with one another.

• Conclusions

Summarise how YouTube has changed the world and how it is going to shape the future generation.

• References

http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/16/five-years-in-youtube-is-now-streaming-two-billion-videos-per-day/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10130195

http://www.newswriting.org/100/100xeffects.pdf

TWC-Week 4

The lesson kicked off with a short clip on “Who Moved My Cheese” video. The focus of today’s lesson was on drivers of change and Leadership and Management.

We discussed about the different drivers of change and whether some of the world’s greatest innovation brought about an evolutionary or revolutionary change.

James presented on climate change and renewable energy while Liye shared on the case of Apple and Steve Job.

It was my first time hearing of “Who Moved My Cheese” so I went home and watched the full movie. It was a simple movie yet it was able to illustrate how people react to change beautifully. Love it!

On the Change Management and leadership reading 1 and 3, I find myself agreeing with the writer very much. The fact that people are being more educated in today’s society, you can’t expect to order them around like robots and expect them to listen or respect you. They expect a leader to inspire, to lead by example before they are willing to follow him or her. Being a leader takes on a different role in today’s world. To be able to lead a bunch of individuals who come from vastly different background and culture with their own mindset and thinking of the ways certain things should be done is no longer a simple task for a leader. The man who has many followers must definitely has what it takes because it’s definitely not easy for people nowadays who have their own dreams and ideals of life to follow one’s man vision. For example in Singapore, the political scene is so different compared to 20 years ago. No longer do Singaporeans do what they are told to do so, but many are actually voicing out their opinions and political leaders now have to really gain the trust and confidence of its people by really listening to what they have to say and recognising the fact that every person’s feedback counts and it’s no longer a one man’s vision or policy.

What I really like about the lesson was the Crossing the Chasm Diagram.

 

Most of the time I fall between the pragmatists and conservatives, where I will only buy a newly launched product after gathering enough information and reviews from people that the product is worth getting. The pragmatists and conservatives reminds me of people who would always sit back and wait for others to take the risk and only hop onto the boat if they see them succeeding. While the technology enthusiasts and visionaries are like people who will take the risk and be the first to try when there’s something new. This really got me reflecting and what I would really like to takeaway from the session is to really to not be afraid to step out of our comfort zones to try and explore new things.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” –Mahatma Gandhi –

Really love this phrase. Many a times we become so stifled in our creativity and conform to the world’s norm because we want to gain acceptance. But sometimes life is really about having the courage to think and act differently. We shape the world we want to live in, not the other way.

Wished we could discuss more on the success of Apple and Steve Job as a leader, one man’s dream and vision that drives the whole company. Why is it so difficult for other companies to grow like Apple? What’s the secret behind Apple’s success? Is it solely due to Steve Job?

Overall I will rate the lesson 8/10. Learnt alot on the way people think and how they respond to change and I really love the video of the dancing man. I want to be like an eagle, to make the change and not wait for change or wonder what’s the change.