CHARGED A look into the technology of the past and its ever-changing future
Featuring: Gaming - the debate between PC and Console
Smartphones - which ones are out there and what the future holds
Education - - how computers are transforming learning
Artificial Intelligence the future of intelligent machines
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Backboards to Circuitboards
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The Rise of Ai
Contents
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34
The Portable Human
Console vs. P.C.
Senior Members
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CONTRIBUTORS
Cristian Cooper
Chan Moon
Awanth Telagu
Cristian likes all things related to technology, and will read about anything that sounds interesting to him. His favorite subjects are math and science, especially chemistry. In the future he wants to be either a chemist or a chemical engineer.
In his free time, Chan likes to play game pigeon and ping pong,. His favorite subjects at school are math and biology. His favorite restaurant is P.F. Chang’s and Panda Express. One day he wants to be either a doctor, lawyer, or engineer.
Awanth likes to follow all things car related and technology related. HIs favorite subjects are math, science, and world geography. In his free time, he like to play soccer with his friends.
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Raj Ramachandran
Liam Langert
Raj enjoys following news regarding all things tech. In his free time Raj plays basketball, reads, and hangs out with friends. He is interestes in both math and social studies.
Liam enjoys playing chess, reading, and going rock climbing. At school, his favorite subjects are math and science. He also likes computer programming, which inspired him to participate in the making of this magazine.
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E ditor’s Note
Photo taken by William DiCarlo
In making this magazine... we were educated about the topics we covered, what a job at a major company is like, technology’s purpose in education, gaming development, the role of artificial intelligence in our lives, and smartphones throughout the world. Making this magazine has informed all of us of different ways technology has affected us. It has created job oppurtinities, ways to communicate, ways to entertain ourselves, and has even impacted how we learn.
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From Blackboards to Circuitboards How Technology is Transforming Education Story by Liam Langert, photos by Liam Langert and Pexels
arely sixty years ago, only the government had access to technology, which was limited to plugging two wires together in a computer the size of a house. Today, on average, every person has more than one phone, a supercomputer that fits in your pocket. Consumer electronics have exploded in a way that nothing else has in the history of invention and discovery, and no industry has so completely transformed itself to meet this new technology as education. All around the world, teachers, leaders, and educators are changing the way education works. They are able to do this because technology has provided a solution to many of the problems that teaching and learning had in the past. However, technology is changing and advancing so fast that teachers, administrators and students must confront the challenges and the rising technological advances that the future brings. In 1969, the first internet connection was created. “I helped to bring
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the first network installations to the school district the first time schools used email or the first time they had access to the Internet” says Kevin Schwarz, the Technology Officer for Learning and Systems for AISD. For 99 percent of human existence, we’ve had no electronics or advanced technology, and understandably the mechanization of our daily lives began slowly. “All of those things were equivalent to the [new technology] you’re talking about today, so technology changes, right?” says Schwarz. “And there are new things in the future that will require our attention and our focus also.” Today, however, there’s much more going on. Several school districts have adopted BLEND, a program that’s revolutionizing collaboration between students and making it much easier for students to do their work online. “[With] the actual BLEND system itself you get many more opportunities
AR is being increasingly used in the classroom, taking more and more students to places they could never visit otherwise.
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Students around the world are using computers in the classroom more than ever.
to communicate, collaborate, be creative and...you've got different ways of showing how you know the material, how you master something then just filling out like a multiple choice worksheet,” says Schwarz. Even teachers are excited about the change: “I love having less paper to keep up with and being able to grade the student's assignments online is significantly faster. The students love to use their computers and are much more actively engaged in their work” says Rachel Willey, an English teacher at Akins High School in Austin. These technologies being integrated into school systems is only the beginning. Greg Rosenbaum, director of the annual SXSW Education event, says “[o] ne of the hottest topics both in our event and at SXSW interactive has been augmented reality, VR, mixed reality and sort of the evolution of that technology.” These topics are the latest to begin the integration process into education, as learning gets more and more digitally connected. VR, or virtual reality, is the ability to put on a pair of glasses and see a place as though you’re right there. “One of the immediate connections...is being able to provide context, experience, and connection to places, things, historical sites what have you to people without having to actually transport them, so it's facilitating a much less expensive experience, a much safer experience.” says Rosenbaum. VR “has been a way to potentially embed learning into real world experiences,” and even school
districts are noticing, as more and more of them utilize VR. AI, or artificial intelligence, is another new technology that more and more schools are taking note of. “A large part of...AI...is just the ability to more personalize an educational experience,” explains Rosenbaum. “A lot of systems have been created to personalized learning or adapt learning and there's ways of tracking competency, there's creating learning that is responsive to a student...meaning where they're at and helping them get based on a set of skill sets to where they need to be.” Essentially, AI helps develop, for every student, a different program that targets their specific strengths and weaknesses. These new technologies have benefits, but they also come with risks. Many parents are worried that this technology will result in excessive screen time for their kids. To this, Schwarz says, “I think that to sort of lump it all into screen time is probably not really addressing the question. I think you can do a lot of great work on a computer, I don't think it's the only thing that a student, parent, anybody should do is do all screens, but if that makes your work better or helps you to more deeply engage around anything I think that's a good thing.” However, increased screen time is not the only concern
“I love having less paper to keep up with, and being able to grade the student’s assignments online is significantly faster”
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that new technology faces. Another major concern is that of the digital divide, which is the problem that many students don’t have financial access to all of the technology that is required. AISD is trying to solve this problem by implementing an everyone-to-one policy, which is a program where all kids get access to a personal chromebook. Not only does this help with the digital divide; it has other benefits. “This really interesting thing happens when everyone has it as opposed to just could have it, it changes the culture of a classroom. One student having a Chromebook or a laptop that may be good for that student but it's not really good for the student next to them, but when two kids have it or all kids have it then the collaboration just goes through the roof,” says Schwarz. “I think that's sort of the change we're looking for.” Many people ask if there is an end to this rapid expansion of technology. Some, like Greg Rosenbaum, are hesitant. He cites a recent report in which many jobs in danger of getting overhauled by robots were looked at. Teachers were at the bottom
of the list. “I think technology will become continuously more present in learning and integrated in that part but in the same way that books have become a part of our learning experience or these other sort of integrated technologies have now that have been a big piece in the past, but that it is less vulnerable being overhauled entirely by technology. It's very hard to imagine a world in which we're all educated by robots and not by humans,” Rosenbaum says. Kevin Schwarz, however, has a different opinion. “I can't see the end of it and maybe that just me and I've been doing it too long. I can't see the end of it anymore. I can see the horizon but not what's over the horizon right now, and history will tell us that there will be innovations and changes that we can't even think of right now,” he says. “I just want to make sure that [our children] are ready for them when they come around.”
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The computers on our desks have been eclipsed by the ones in our pockets.
The Rise of the Mobile Phone
A graph of the popularity of computers versus the popularity of smartphones, with important dates labelled.
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The first cell phone that doesn’t need to be powered through a car is tried by Dr. Martin Cooper. He becomes the first person to make a mobile phone call.
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The first cell phone is released to the public by Motorolla, called the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It cost $3,995.
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Motorolla releases a revolutionary new phone with a mouth piece that flips away from the keyboard. The first flip phone, called the Motorolla MicroTac, is much smaller than the DynaTac and costs only $2,995.
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The first SMS message is sent by Neil Papworth. He sends the text: “Merry Christmas” to Richard Jarvis. Jarvis, who doesn’t have SMS capabilities on his phone, can not reply. One year later, in 1993, Nokia releases the first commercial phone that can send and recieve messages if the sender and reciever are on the same network. In this same year, the IBM Simon is introduced, the world’s first “smart” phone. It features 1MB of RAM and can text, call, and install third-party apps that are downloaded through a chip in the bottom.
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The IBM Simon and later smartphones have massively boosted the mobile phone industry. For the first time ever, there are more mobile phones per capita than computers around the world
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Apple introduces itself to the gigantic mobile phone industry with the best smartphone yet, the iPhone 1. This boosts the mobile phone industry even further. By this time, most people with mobile phones without touchscreens have switched to mobile phones that do.
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Due to the movement to get smartphones into developing countries, as of 2016, on average, every person has more than one smartphone.
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1985
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Personal Computers Per 100 People
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by Liam Langert
Mobile Phones Per 100 People
People are now on their phones, on average, over three hours a day.
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The Rise of AI The Emergence of AI and its Place in Modern Society Created by Chan Moon
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he next era will be of AI,” Sushma Patel, a software designer at Intel, said. However, most people wouldn’t be able to imagine Siri walking around. Siri, and other artificial intelligence programs certainly have their benefits, but also come with their downfalls. Artificial intelligence has been on the rise lately. With the rise comes benefits and downfalls. Artificial intelligence has the capabilities to outdo humans in calculating and creating less errors, but lacks the emotions and morality. “Artificial Intelligence,” Patel said, “refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that would typically be associated with human cognition such as responding to questions, recognizing faces, playing video games, or describing objects.” Lately, with the emergence of AI in the technology field, big companies such as Apple, Google, and Intel are investing into smaller companies that specialize in artificial intelligence. With technology giants investing in AI, their employees have a voice to speak out about their opinions. “Everyone generally has a positive view of AI in terms of its ability to resolve problems more quickly and efficiently than humans,” treasury analyst at Dropbox, Inc. Anthony Cao said. “Of course there are others, too, who have fears that AI could supersede the human mind and eventually overtake us.” As a former employee at Google, Cao has an insight in one of the biggest technology companies in the world. A majority of people, regardless of age or occupation, have a positive view on artificial intelligence because of its benefits. “Among the many emerging trends in the technology sector, the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to be one of the most significant over the coming years,” Patel said. “It will be very useful for people, AI capability has improved to such an
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Picture of the inside of a computer from Pexels
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extent that a range of commercial applications are now possible in areas like consumer electronics, industrial automation and online retail.” Sharon Burns, dyslexia/RTI reading teacher at Hill Country Middle School, explains the capabilities and uniqueness of the brain. “Unlike other animals brains, our brain has the capability of taking ideas to another level for analysis,” Burns said. Knowing the capabilities of the brain, people doubt AI’s necessities. “AI isn’t really necessary,” Cao said. ‘Humans have been just
fine without AI since the beginning of creation. It undoubtedly has its benefits, but I would never call it a necessity.” Matt Mahler, Tech Support Specialist at Eanes Independent School District, also agrees. “I am at the point where I don’t think it is a necessity to have artificial intelligence but it would be a handy tool.” Mahler said. “Kind of like having an iPad even though you already have an iPhone, not really necessary but also it isn’t harming anyone by having it.” The human brain has the capabilities to do everything AI can do.
“Unlike other animals’ brains, our brains have the capability of taking ideas to another level of analysis.” -Sharon Burns
Picture of Anthony Cao provided by Anthony Cao
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The capabilities of AI varies from doing simple things like being a personal assistant on a cellular device to a more intricate learning robot like the AlphaGo. But the human brain might not be matched. “I, personally, do think AI can catch up to the brain in terms of calculating algebraic problems,” said Burns. “However, in terms of abstractness, the human brain cannot be matched. The diversity of the types of human brains out there make it almost impossible to truly predict the capabilities of a technology can overcome the brain.”
This also controls reading, thinking, speech, emotions and muscle movements. “Emotions aren’t special to humans,” said Burns. “There’s been many cases where people see animals with emotions, like a dog barking angrily. However what really makes us humans unique is the ability of thinking beyond the physical world around us.” Religion, for example, is unique to humans as it needs a philosophy of the world after death. Animals, however, simply don’t have to the capabilities of this higher thinking. Artificial Intelligence certainly has
“Humans have been just fine without AI since the beginning of creation. It undoubtedly has its benefits, but I would never call it a necessity.” -Anthony Cao With everything artificial intelligence can achieve, it will still be lacking to the nature’s computer, our brain. One of the things AI lacks the most compared to the human brain is emotions. Emotions are carried out by the limbic system, which is located in the temporal lobe. The part of the brain that controls learning is the cerebrum, the large, outer part of the brain.
its benefits and comes in handy, however compared to the brain, it is still a mile behind. In the near future, artificial intelligence could take away jobs that require a more calculation based occupation, like a surgeon or engineer, however in the emotional side of things, it would be near impossible to program something that can sense empathy and relate on a one to one basis.
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Artificial Intelligence Comparing and Contrasting AI and The Brain By: Chan Moon
U.S. based companies absorbed 66% of all AI invesments
Majority of artificial intelligence progams are female.
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In 2014, Google bought AI startup company Deepmind for $400 million
Artificial intelligence has the capability of learning.
As a result of adopting AI, healthcare, financial services and professional services are experiencing an increase in profits
Human Brain A typical brain weighs about 2% of the body mass but uses 20% of the body’s energy
Even if a brain is 2% dehydrated it can affect memory, cognitive skills, and attentoin
The brain is 60% fat, making it the fattiest organ
Only 5 minutes without oxygen can cause brain damage
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Which Is Better AMD or Intel? Settling the Question With Nothing but Facts By Cristian Cooper
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950x
AMD 1. # of CPU Cores - 16
2. # of Threads - 32
3. Base Clock Speed - 3.4 GHz
4. Max Turbo Core Speed - 4 GHz
5. TDP - 180W
6. Memory Channels - 4
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1. Cores is a hardwear term that describes the number of independant central processing unists in a single computing component
2. A Thread, or thread of execution, is a softwear term for the basic ordered sequence of instructions that can be passed through or processed by a single CPU Cores
4. When not all Cores are being used, there is extra heat room left, and the used cores can run at the Max Turbo Core Speed
5. Thermal Design Power (TDP) represents the average power, in watts, the processor dissipates when operating at base frequency with all cores active
3. The Base Clock Speed is the full typical use of the cores.
6. The number of Memory Channels refers to the bandwith operation for real world operation
Intel Core i9 - 7980XE Extreme Processor
Intel 1. # of CPU Cores - 18
2. # of Threads - 36
3. Base Clock Speed - 2.6 GHz
4. Max Turbo Core Speed - 4.2 GHz
5. TDP - 165W
6. Memory Channels - 4
Total Market Price - $2000 http://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/core/x-series/i9-7900x.html
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Senior Members Share Wisdom What’s It Like Working for Major Technology Corporations? By Cristian Cooper
Intel Headquarters taken from wikimidea commons
AMD Headquarters taken from Wikimedia comons
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ith the help of Paul Jordan, a senior member of technical staff working with embedding codes at Intel, and Gail Himebaugh, a systems design engineer in platform design at AMD, it’s possible to get a small look into the kind of work they do at their jobs. Unfortunately, while both of them work in pretty high level positions at their job, it seems that some of the more basic jobs relevant to both of their companies seem to be lacking members. “The kind of stuff that I do it’s really hard now to hire people for that and strangely hard to get people to do the embedded side because everybody knows like higher level programming languages and they don’t know how to write lower level, base level code”, Jordan says. “It’s good and bad sometimes there’s a lot of pressure you know you get up against a chip release and it’s a whole lot of work everybody’s panicking
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working a minimum of twelve hours a day, and that includes weekends”, says Jordan while commentating on his job overall. As well as Himebaugh agrees, “if there’s any issues with the silicon in and of itself, we have to work
“It really boils down to being challenged, finding things that really exercise my experience and problem solving abilities” - Paul Jordan long hours to work through the issues, and that’s probably the issue, it’s long hours, very stressful. To have to get a lot of work done in a very short period of
the challenge that comes with a larger business “I get to do program management, platform design, debug, some mentoring, some management of other employees...it’s a lot of work”, Himebaugh says. Jordan does find it difficult to relate his own job to many others sometimes “I’ve worked on other projects where I did like sound cards for computers or stuff like that that’s something that people know right, it’s in a computer, it’s in your laptop. Those are you know a little more little bit more fun to work on, instead of programming FPGA [a semiconductor device containing programmable logic components and programmable interconnects], nobody knows what that is” There are more perks than just working at a computer though,“we do have the opportunity to work with customers outside of AMD. And I do find that is very rewarding in the sense that I do have involvement in helping that customer make the right decisions in their products”, Himebaugh says.
Paul Jordan taken by Cristian Cooper
Gail Himebaugh provided by Gail Himebaugh
time”, says Himebaugh. One thing needed to have for a job like this is the desire to be challenged in the workplace, “it really boils down to being challenged, you know finding things that really exercise, in my case, my experience and really my problem solving abilities”, Himebaugh says. “It’s fun to work on nice you know complicated difficult problems, it’s not really fun to work on easy stuff, it’s not really what I want to do”, Jordan says. They do have differing views when it comes to large companies. Jordan says he doesn’t enjoy working for large companies, but he does enjoy some of the luxuries. “this building’s nice has a nice cafeteria they have a workout room so you know, you have a lot of stuff to help the employees”, and, “you’ve got plenty of money backing you don’t have to worry about it” Jordan says. Rather Himebaugh puts it as him enjoying
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P.C. By: Raj Ramachandran
Price: Gaming P.C’.s can run you anywhere from $450 to $5,000. Your price will most likley depend on how graphic intensive you want your games to be.
Games: P.C. has an unparralel gaming selection at least in size. In short aside from console exclusives, if you want it, PC’s got it.
Graphics: P.C. graphics vary based on the quality of the setup. If done right, you can get better than console graphics starting aroung $600.
Multiplayer: For a vast majority of titles no subscription is required.
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vs.
Console Price: The PS4 and Xbox One base models cost about $300.
However if you want the latest and greatest, the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro will run you $500.
Games: Consoles have lots of great games, and some great
titles that you won’t find on a P.C. But in sheer quantity P.C.’s got it beat.
Graphics: The PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are both capable of
displaying games at a 4k resolution. However, the PS4 and Xbox One are still stuck at 1080p.
Multiplayer: To play multiplayer on the PS4 or Xbox One you have to subscribe to Play Station Plus or Xbob Live Gold. Both cost roughly $60 a year.
Other Uses: Both the Playstation and Xbox offer access to
apps as such as Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube. Both systems also include competent Blu-Ray and DVD players.
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By: Raj Ramachandran
P.C. vs Console A Developer’s Perspective.
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P.C. or Console, it’s a choice that millions make every year. Some gamers fiercely argue the superiority of their side, others are indifferent. But what about the developers who make the games? How does their unique relationship with the gaming industry affect their personal gaming preferences? Kelson Gist and Jimmy Sedota are Austinite game developers who both provide a different insight into the preferences of a game developer. Gist has a Master of Science in Computer Science from DigiPen Institute of Technology and 10 years of game development under his belt, and he is currently an entrepreneur working on his first game at his new company, Sky Giant Studios. Sedota, on the other hand, is a Sr. Gameplay Designer at Bioware, a studio under the parent company of Electronic Arts; He has a Bachelors in Computer Science. This September they both gave comprehensive insight into this storied debate, answering some important questions that help to predict where this platform rivalry is heading. According to Gist, gaming is all about circumstance. What gaming platform he uses is determined by the type of game he is playing. “Both is my preference,” said Gist. “I have a gaming PC, I have a base PS4 and Xbox. For me it usually comes down to, there are unique games and experiences on every platform and I try to play what I can. ”On the other hand, Sedota said he prefers the console. He says likes to sit on the couch, put his feet up, have the big screen there, and hold the controller. While their preferences for gaming is important to understand, what platform that they prefer to develop for is more important. In the end neither Microsoft or Sony will be able to survive if gamers would rather develop for P.C.’s. “P.C. is absolutely the easiest platform to develop for,” according to Gist. With console, you have to get approval you have to get a development kit, when you’re ready to release the game you have to go through their certification process which is
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In recent years PS4 sales have soared, out selling its Mircrosoft counterpart in the Xbox 1. dramatically more onerous than Steam.” Sedota agrees that P.C. is more convenient for lesser developers adding, “When you make a console game there’s a lot of extra money required, that’s the short version. The bottom line is that it’s going to be cheaper on P.C. because you not paying as many fees, that’s probably the biggest thing.” The larger library of games isn’t what they think has the biggest effect on sales, rather they both agree that P.C. popularity has more to do with the intangibles such as words processing, web browsing, and more
Photo by Pexels
“P.C. is absolutely the easiest platform to develop for.”
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Jimmy Sedota is a Sr. Gameplay Designer at Bioware that come with P.C. Console sales are still going strong however and it seems as though that while P.C. gaming is becoming more and more popular, it still has a long way to go before it can claim full victory over console. The PS4 from Playstation and the Xbox 1 from Microsoft still offer gaming packages and a fluent software
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Photo by Jimmy Sedota
experience that is nearly impossible to match for the same price on P.C. According to both Gist and Sedota, the obstacles involved with developing for console have caused Indie developers to go exclusively P.C. However both of them still envision a future where console is still a major force in the gaming industry despite the vast imbalance in overall
Kelson Gist is currently an entrepreneur working on his first game at his new company, [insert company name here]. game selection. Gist attributed this to how consumer friendly consoles are adding that “the nice thing about consoles is the barrier to entry for consumers is super low and yet everything works.� Because the barrier of entry is so low consumers often opt for console over what is a rather intimidating process for some, in building a P.C. The decision all comes down to what you want, and how much you are willing to spend. Anywhere under $400, for just gaming, console makes the most sense because you get a much more fluid experience than any sub $400
P.C can offer. Building a P.C. is easier than ever thanks to online sites that help you source the parts, and check to make sure they are all compatible. So if the best graphics is what you desire, your budget is at least around $500, and you are willing to build it on your own, P.C. is the way to go.
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Smartphones of Today Comparing the Top 2017 Smartphone By Awanth Telagu Models iPhone X
Price: $999 Water Resistency Rating: IP67 Storage: 256 GB Built In Screen: OLED 5.8 Inch Display, 1125-2436 pixels, 449 ppi OS: IOS 11 Hardware: A11 Bionic Chip, 3 GB Ram, 64 Bit Front Facing Camera: 7 Megapixels Rear Facing Camera: Dual 12 Megapixel at 60fps 4k, Quad LED Flash Battery: 2716 mAh Features: Wireless Charging, 3D Touch, Sterio Speakers, USB Lightning Port
Samsung Note 8
Price:$930 Water Resistency Rating: IP68 Storage: 64 GB Built In, Expandable to 256 GB Screen: Super AMOLED 6.3 Inch Display, 1440-2960 Pixels, 522 ppi OS: Android 7.1 Hardware: Snapdragon 835, 6 GB Ram, Octa-core 64 bit Front Facing Camera: 8 Megapixels Rear Facing Camera: Two 12 Megapixels at 30fps 4k, LED Flash Battery: 3300 mAh Features: Iris Scanner, Stylus, USB Type C, Wireless Charging C Charged 34
LG V30
Price:$800-$810 Water Resistency Rating: IP68 Storage: 64 GB Built In, Expandable to 2000 GB Screen: P-OLED 6 Inch Display, 1440-2880 Pixels, 537 ppi OS: Android 7.1 Hardware: Snapdragon 835, 4 GB Ram, Oc taCore 64 Bit Front Facing Camera: 5 Megapixles Rear Facing Camera: Dual 13 Megapixel at 30fps 4k, Dual LED Flash Battery: 3300 mAh Features: USB Type C, Fingerprint Sensor
OnePlus 5
Price: $539 Water Resistency Rating: No Official Rating Storage: 128 GB Screen: AMOLED 5.5 Inch Display, 1080-1920 pixles, 401 ppi OS: Android 7.1 Hardware: Snapdragon 835, 8 GB Ram, Octa-core 64 Bit Front Facing Camera: 16 Megapixels Rear Facing Camera: Dual 20 Megapixels at 30fps 4k, Dual LED Flash Battery: 3300 mAh Features: USB Type C, Fingerprint Sensor
Google Pixel XL
Price:$649 Water Resistency Rating: IP67 Storage: 128 GB Screen: OLED 6 Inch Display, 1440-2560 pixles, 490 ppi OS: Android 8.0 Hardware: Snapdragon 835, 4 GB Ram, Octa-core 64 Bit Front Facing Camera: 7 Megapixels Rear Facing Camera: 12 Megapixels, LED Flash Battery: 3520 mAh Features: USB Type C, Fingerprint Sensor Charged 35 C
Paul Springer, a smartphone nthusiast and a student at LASA highschool
Photo by Awanth Telagu
The Portable Human Looking Into How the Smartphone Industry Has Changed Since it Was Invented
By: Awanth Telagu
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In just ten years, humans have changed the cellphone into a supercomputer more powerful than the computers that. worked in the 1969 moon mission that fits in our hands. Almost every year, new smartphones are released into the ever growing world of technology, but we seem to think that they have not changed one bit from the previous generation. For example, when the iPhone comes out, people attack the fact that the design and software and design of the phone has not changed, but on paper, there is a significant difference. People kept on doing so for years, even now, and still they do not realize the key features that have been added to the phones to differentiate them from the previous year’s. The smartphone industry has been shifting, turning, and changing ever since the smartphone has been invented. Even now, companies such as Samsung or Apple are changing and setting new standards in the market, making smartphones more amazing than they already are, but people do not actually see the technology because people have taken advantage of it. From software, hardware, and even cameras, companies improve their products bit by bit every year, but releasing key features with it as well. All of the improvements made within these ten years is better than what humans could accomplish 50 years ago. The only problem is that if people improve everything at once, there will be no time for new key features that will wow consumers, and companies that produce them will go out of business, thus the industry would die. People need to understand that patience is a virtue. Apple was never the inventor of smartphones, instead, it was companies like Palm and Blackberry who first started the very popular trend of these handheld computers. Michael Fisher, a Youtuber who creates videos on technology such as phones, has experienced the rise and the peak of all types of smartphones. In that time, the software had to improve from supporting small displays and multiple buttons to hauling on-display buttons and displays that as large as human hands. “Software now is almost an organism, you can touch things, and drag things, and flip things. Back in the day, it was keystrokes, and little jog dials, and buttons, and switches that you flipped,” Fisher stated “You can’t ignore Palm’s contributions,” said Fisher.
“Software now is almost an or-
ganism, you can touch things, and drag things, and flip things. Back in the day, it was keystrokes, and little jog dials, and buttons, and switches that you flipped,”--Fisher
Palm Pre had the technology used by smartphones today, ten years ago Photo by Wikimediacommons Palm was not one of the leading smartphone manufacturers before the first touchscreen phone had come out, instead, Palm had created so many futuristic features compared to many phones at the time. “It’s amazing, that operating system was so ahead of it’s time.” said Michael. Web OS was a technological revolution; many OS’s of today are based off of that one design such as iOS and Android. Palm had also created the first wireless charging phone. Companies like Blackberry and even Nokia tried to copy Palm’s designs in software and hardware and sold millions as well, however, there was a rookie who came in the next year after the peak of the buttonized smartphones. In 2007, the first all-display touchscreen phone had been released, the iPhone. Ever since the iPhone came out, companies with similar products have either risen to the top or fallen to the ground. “They just did not adapt as quickly as it should have. There is a lot of reasons for that, and it’s a shame. But that is the progress, adapt or die,” said Fisher. The great Blackberry and Palm died because their companies mainly focused on those lines of products, but companies like Samsung and and
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LG have products ranging from washing machines to television that helped keep them alive. Then they caught up to Apple, and in some cases, passed them, but do they fulfil the essence of a smartphone? Smartphones are part of a normal, everyday life, but people do not admire them like they once have when they came out. Since companies like Apple and Samsung came out with touch ID and bezel-less displays, these key features became base features for the next model. People don’t even remember what the phone was meant to do anymore because all of the key features keep coming out every year instead of decades or every couple of years. “The goal is to make the best performing device for the lowest power consumption,” stated Milind Kamble, Samsung Hardware Engineer. That is what the phone was meant to do, and that is what companies should do every year for every new generation of phones: improve their base stats by a lot more, to make more and better improvements that can be supported by a phone that increases sales with the wow factor. To make a phone that can have a good performance overall with amazing key features, the companies also have to be amazing overall as well. Companies like Samsung, Apple, LG, and Nokia did not always have smartphones in their line of products. They had to fund and research a way of creating an entirely new device. They got to the top of the industry by working on base factors quickly, and then work on key features. Blackberry and Palm died because they were not quick enough to make a wow factor device, and not quick enough to make a base product to then improve. Companies also have to be persuasive in order to sell their devices. “Got to have Apple up there, there is no way around it. They are as annoying and pretentious as they can be. They know how to move smartphone.” said Fisher. Another way of ensuring a company’s future is by having a good visionaire. People like Steve Jobs do not come up every year. He was one of they key things that secured Apple’s future when competing with other smartphones in the release of the iPhone 3G. However, when he died, it didn’t affect the company at all.
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iPhone, one of the most bought brand of phones in the world taken by Pexels “His death had a massive effect on the company, of course, but is the company failing since then? Certainly not, not by the numbers,” said Fisher. Marketing is a very important aspect in selling a company’s product. Samsung and other top companies can persuade consumers really well, but when something happens to a product, the next product may not be so trustworthy. When Samsung released the Note 7, it was fine until it literally blew up. However, they managed to sell the next generation of products with ease. “It is not a new lesson, where such incidents have happened to other companies and they have responded,” said Kamble. Samsung also covered the problem up by adding more wow factor features to the phone. Companies that are that large can easily cover it up and replace it with trends. “They are good at spotting trends, and delivering a high quality device with value,” said Kamble. Along with flagship models, some companies introduce budget phones as well. Some companies are completely based off of budget phones, and the budget phone now rules over half of the world. Google is the mainly the software developer, making it easy to create phones for a reasonable price. “Google really democratized it too in a different way,” stated Michael Fisher However, even budget phones need to have some key features, maybe not as much as the top com
panies, but some for the wow factor. “The biggest thing about a mobile device year after year, introduction of products, is that they have to have noticeable improvements in user response and one or two key features that wow the customer.” said Kamble. “I would say that they are pricier compared to equivalent products, so they have a branding premium that usually people experience when people want to buy Samsung.” said Kamble. Along with other improvements, people also want security improvements in their phones to protect the GB of private information that can be hacked at any time. People like Milind Kamble, a father, and consumer, he wants “specifically financial data, health data, personal information, family data and so on. That’s one of the features I would like to make sure that it is apparent always protecting but not intrusive.” Smartphones are now key parts of human lives. Smartphones holds incredible amounts of data for family and other personal data. There are different types of phones like budget or premium.
They all have similar software and hardware, but there is one key thing, it’s how the company that produces the smartphones to persuade people to buy the phones. In the end, it does not matter what phone people get, it matters on how people use it.
“The biggest thing about a mobile device year after year, introduction of products, is that they have to have noticeable improvements in user response and one or two key features that wow the customer,” --Kamble.
Smartphones can now take 4k quality photo, and record 4k in 60 fps. Photo by Pexels
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