One of the most watched videos of the net is titled “Did You Know”, or sometimes known by “Shift Happens.” For many, this presentation is a clarion call of the dramatic changes sweeping through the globe. If you are one of the few on the net who have not viewed it yet you can read more about the presentation and watch it from the Wiki at http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com
The presentation puts many people in a frame of mind to take stock of the world around them and think of what it will be like in a few years. It really makes you think about the future environment and what we should be educating our children about.
But meanwhile, huge parts of the shift have already occurred. And there are things we all need to continuously learn.
For a great snapshot of the realities of the world today, see David Kirkpatrick’s piece on “Tech’s time of tumult“ David has a knack for explaining complex concepts in a clear, concise way, and those talents are required at a time like this. He writes:
” This is a historic moment in the history of technology. All at once, we are shifting to a mobile, ad-supported, on-demand, socially-connected, truly global network.
Each one of those five new attributes brings with it fundamental, world-altering implications. The fact that all five are happening at once makes this a dizzying time, but one of so much opportunity for tech companies it’s almost absurd.”
He then reviews key points on the status of mobility, ad-supported, on-demand and social networks and global networks.
I’d like to see much more written on these topics, of course from David, but also from anyone who can contribute to our ability to maximize our human rights, privacy, security and freedoms in the wired world we have built for ourselves. For example, what should we people be doing to teach ethics to all the children of the earth who will soon be getting low cost laptops from projects like OLPC? Grownups of the earth will need to think through that. And then there is privacy. What will the world be like when every cell phone has a high def camera that is always on recording every owners view of the world? And who will protect us from global miscreants in the totally connected always on global network we have now?
These and other topics are all in need of further discussion and thought.
