Friday, 12 December 2008

Technology Advances


Recent events have made me realise just how far technology has come in such a short space of time.

Logitech has announced their 1 billionth computer mouse has been made recently and that it's also the 40th anniversary of the computer mouse. I found a video on the BBC website about the very first computer mouse. The design of it is clever, yet simple and performs a task that we now take for granted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7772376.stm

The design of the mouse hasn't changed much at all, from two sliding wheels, to a ball inside the mouse and then to optical mice. The only major change really has been the ability to have a mouse without wires.

Various other products such as touch pads on laptops and touch screens have tried to rival the mouse, but each have their downsides. The touch pads are fairly inaccurate and not much use when trying to draw on computer screens. The touch screen methods are great for diversity, but you can imagine holding your arm out for hours is going to become painful.

Another advance in technology I noticed recently was the addition of WiFi Internet on the bus I take home. You can now actually surf the full Internet at a modest speed whilst sitting on the bus. A couple of years ago, this seemed like miles away, yet we've seen a rapid increase in WiFi hot spots thanks to the use of the Cloud Network. We can even access the Internet while sipping on a coffee in Starbucks or indulging in a burger at McDonalds!

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