The frontier of digital innovation appears to be expanding at light speed or something close to it. This is presumptuous on my part, but I cannot help but notice the number of advances announced this year alone. Innovations in imaging technology, data storage and retrieval, telephony, and cross-platform compatibility are changing the way human beings interact.
Consumer demands and market interests are pushing many new developments in the world of digital photography and we have only just seen the beginning of all this. At the beginning of the year, for example, Varioptic introduced plans to bring a liquid lens to the market. The lens utilized the principles of "electro-wetting" and promises to increase image quality three fold through lighter, more durable, and much smaller designs. Now, a merger between and an imaging chip maker and an optics company promises to add even more quality to camera phones. Techweb provides a summary of the merger:
Omni Vision Technologies, a maker of imaging chips, will acquire CDM Optics, Inc., a company that has created a technology to increase the depth of field in a digital camera without using moving parts. CDM Optics will continue operating as a subsidiary of Omni Vision, and will not be relocating from its Boulder, Colorado headquarters. The CDM technology, called "Wave front Coding", will allow sharper pictures to be taken by camera phones. The technology also allows for smaller camera bodies and reduced manufacturing costs. Omni Vision expects to start selling improved, less-expensive camera phones using the CDM technology within 12 to 18 months.
In professional photography, February's announcement by Pentax for its first digital medium-format camera was expected but also exciting. This new Pentax 645 Digital camera offers one of the highest quality resolution to date with 18.6 megapixels.
People are adjusting to the ever-increasing expansion of new technology, but I am concerned that some sociological and ideological issues may be overshadowed by a tendency toward technological fetishism.
If we use these new tools to promote social change and real-time participation in representative governments, then, I believe that we are headed in the right direction. Otherwise, any potential these technologies represent may be subsumed by the increasing concentration of the have-mores in society.
At issue, is how self-identity and social-identity are being redefined by emerging technology in ways not quite yet understood as a driving force in the way people communicate and interact in a digital age. It is not just about new technologies replacing older one. In this free-for-all age of innovation there is a significant opportunity for people to become more engaged and empowered in everyday decision-making.
Yesterday, for example, our family visited a car dealership to look at the possibility of getting a new car. As the sales representative started the dance of getting us a "better deal" we were able to compare quotes with other dealerships, online reports, Blue book values, etc... all online within minutes. Car dealers hate when customers don't jump at the first offer. They hate it when you say you need a few minutes to check out the facts. In the past, we might have gone on good faith with a dealer, but now, with the possibility of checking information on-the-spot there is no excuse for due diligence and saving money. Actually, not only were we checking the numbers on line, we had family members checking facts at the same time. In this way, we were able to make a more informed decision.