 |
| Reflecting on my peers' presentations of other technological innovations gave me clear picture of the evolution of technology. |
After hearing all of my classmates present, i've gained an overall deeper understanding and appreciation for the society that we live in today. Today, AI is quickly emerging and growing at rates faster than we can even appreciate them. Back in the 20th century, technological innovations were on the rise. Even before, we lived in a time where the developments of the postal service and the printing press were important.
During my classmates' presentations, three innovations immediately stuck out to me: American Sign Language (ASL), The Radio, and Motion Pictures
Learning about the innovation and impact of American Sign Language was particularly interesting to me as I am someone who struggles with permanent hearing loss myself.
The timeframe of this innovation honestly shocked me. I did not expect there to be an entire school dedicated to just deaf and hard of hearing people given the time period.
This was a super important invention for our current time frame as we see interpreters everywhere. Without them and the current education for those who are hearing deprived, I believe we would have a completely different viewpoint of those with disabilities in general, but specifically those in the deaf community.
Secondly, hearing about the invention of the radio was actually a very crucial invention to World History. This invention made its way into World War 2 and was used by naval ships as their way of communication. Without this invention, some aspect of World War 2 may have had a different outcome.
This sparks questions to me, getting me asking myself if the radio was invented earlier than it was, would the outcome of its practical use, in this case WW2, have been any different?
Finally, the creation of motion pictures stood out to me as well. Through a collaborative effort between multiple historic figures, motion pictures were born. Additionally, the inventions of the Kinetograph and Kinetoscope made this sector of creations in the late 19th century.
Although similar, these were two separate products: one was the camera, where the scope was how you can watch the film on the Kinetograph.
In modern day society, we use motion pictures so often, I can't even put a label on it. Without this invention, specifically at the time when it was invented, we may not have as sophisticated film and videos that we do today.
It is crazy to think about it, but we could be behind in the formation of AI if all of the inventions presented by my peers and I were not created when they did. Every invention, idea, creation, prototype, etc.. builds on top of one another.
With this in mind, next time you are using some sort of technology related product, think about how we would live in society today without it. It's probably hard to imagine right?
Learning about the history of our past gadgets is important to our understanding the evolution and change that's occurred. Everyday modern technology is reshaping the way we think and communicate as a species, therefore it is important to understand the background behind them.
