The Disruptive Power of Second Life

The Disruptive Power of Second Life

There are many forms of disruptive technology.  New technologies in are development all over the world by various companies.  Eventually these new technologies will be released and cause older forms of technology to become obsolete.  Disruptive technologies are created for the same purposes and functions as existing technologies, but are created more efficiently causing the older forms of technology to become obsolete.  The older form of technology has been on the market forever then a newer, more advanced form of technology comes onto the market and changes everything we know about the technology making it obsolete.  Second Life is an online virtual world that was created so viewers can create avatars and interact with each other in a virtual world.  “Second Life is the best way to create technology in virtual worlds.  Virtual worlds allow us to reinvent ourselves and contain everything and anything we need to create our new ideas” (Rosedale, 2008).  Second Life is a disruptive technology for several reasons.  It provides viewers with a brand new form of technology that has the same functionality of existing technologies in social media, gaming, technology creation, and space exploration that functions more efficiently that other forms of technology on the market.  This would cause technologies such as War Craft, Twitter, Facebook, other social networking sites as well as technology production to become obsolete.  Second Life provides a virtual world where all of these functions can take place through the interaction of avatars.  If this type of virtual world technology keeps being developed it could eventually cause the internet to become obsolete.   I think that this new technology displaced the whole concept of virtual worlds and online gaming.  Everything that revolves around video gaming and virtual world gaming such as Warcraft will eventually become obsolete.  This type of technology could cause lectures and face to face teaching to eventually become obsolete.  As the Second Life technology is developed it could eventually cause social media sites and technology to become obsolete as well.  “Second Life provides viewers with the opportunities to explore virtual worlds, meet residents, socialize, participate in social and group activities, create and trade virtual property, and 3-D services that can be used to create new ideas.  It also provides viewers with opportunities to create and develop animations, objects, clothing, shapes, and gestures within the virtual world” (Rosedale, 2008).  I think that Second Life has several years left before it will eventually be replaced by an emerging technology.  Second Life is still emerging as a technology.  It has not been fully emerged as it is still making improvements and adjustments to the virtual world.  Ten to twenty years down the road someone will develop a better and more advanced form of technology that will eventually replace Second Life.  Second Life is still relatively new and developing so it will take longer for it to become obsolete.    Second Life provides a virtual world where viewers can socialize and interact with each other through the use of avatars.  They can communicate, form groups and exchange ideas freely.  Virtual worlds are not commonly used in the educational world.  It would be really difficult to find a school board or administration that would adopt this form of technology for use in the school.  Eventually virtual world technology could be used to replace online learning and face to face working in the classroom.   

References

Rosedale, P. (2008). Philip Rosedale on Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html

Rhymes of History

Rhymes of History

There are many examples of technology that are prime examples of rhymes of history.  These forms of technology help bring back memories and ideas from the past.  Technologies being developed that are considered rhymes of history bring back memories and ideas from the past.  “The development of a new technology will impact or rekindle something from the distant past.  The affect of this new technology is enkindled.  The rhymes of history force will always meet a deep human need with a new technology” (Laureate Education, 2009c).  Cameras and other forms of recording technology have had a major impact on history.  Cameras are an excellent example of technology that rhymes of history.  The camera has a long and interesting path spanning from 1837 all the way to the digital cameras of 2014.  (http://www.technewsdaily.com/390-digital-camera-history-the-evolution-of-the-camera.html­)  The camera rekindles the idea of seeing things through your eyes and the power of observation.  The human eye has a limited field of vision, where only certain objects can be seen.  The camera has a similar field of vision leading up to modern times where new cameras have been developed that have a wider field of vision.  One of the main functions of the camera is to record everything that the camera sees.  The earliest forms of the camera dating back before time could not record data just have a form of vision.  The idea that cameras rekindle from the past is people’s desire to record history and significant events from the past.  Travelling back in time to ancient civilizations people recorded images and people by observing them visually and then drawing or painting the likeness on a wall or building.  The Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians would record history, events, and people by observing their likeness and then painting them on the walls, buildings, and art of the time period.  Arts during the French Revolution and the Renaissance Era would have models pose for them and then paint their pictures using paintings and drawings.  People were observing visuals and then recording and creating their images through drawing and paintings.  Cameras visually observe what is in front of them and then record an image or event for the person taking the picture.     

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009c). Thornburg, D. Rhymes of history.  [Video webcast]. Baltimore. MD