Moving Sidewalks

Did you ever notice that the only location of moving sidewalks is at airports? The only location at least I’ve been to with sidewalks that transport you are in airports. Why not have those everywhere? This technological advancement truly could assist the population with going from point A to point B. For example, walking in a mall can be difficult for those with leg issues, but with moving sidewalks that dilemma is easily solved. Malls have several wings and floors for mass shopping at a time, but with a bad knee you can not reap those benefits. Escalators were invented to allow you to get from one floor to the next in minimal time; we should have the sidewalks to do the same. People would appreciate that. Some may argue that America will just become lazy and stop walking altogether, but I believe here in New York some people will be in such a rush that if they do not need to use the moving sidewalks for medical and health reasons, they will not use it at all. The aim of this technological benefit would be those with health issues that would like enjoy the leisure activities those with no health issues do.

When Will Cars Fly?

So we have all this technology advancing cell phones and computers, but when will it attack cars? They have created hybrid cars that people do not really use. Why not create the flying car. It was modeled years ago on the cartoon The Jetsons. The car does not necessarily need to be shaped that way but wouldn’t it be so much easier if cars flew? Think about it, pollution would be greatly reduced because the cars could run on a super cell battery and instead of gas stations there would be charging stations. The price would be expensive to charge your car, because if you do not charge it at home and need to be charged you’ll have no choice but to pay. This will be an economic benefit to the owner of the charging station. Traffic? What traffic? There is so much room in the sky that traffic would be obsolete. Roads would be safer for walking unless there is an air accident, and then pedestrians will be warned to run. Of course safety is a large concern so signs and traffic lights will need to be added to the skyway. If we have the technology to have cars flying we definitely have the technology to have signs and lights hovering. All in all our technology knowledge should be geared toward inventions that could change the future. We should add driving land cars to the history textbooks and let flying cars drive us into the future.

Sidekick

The sidekick is a phone provided by T-Mobile. This phone acts as a computer as well as a cell phone. I know what you’re thinking; every other phone does the same thing. But, this phone is quite different. With the Sidekick it is the size of a stapler and has a crazy flip screen that allows you to type on a QWERTY keyboard. The phone also acts as a camera and has a million and two buttons on it that make no sense unless you study the manual to the phone. There are four main buttons that have a random symbol on each button symbolizing a different function. What do they stand for? I wish I could tell you. But what I do know is if you press a button a drop down screen will pop up with several different options for you to choose from. For me, it’s luck of the draw if I chose the right button to find the function I need. Occasionally on the screen it will say press *insert symbol* to go back to main menu. This phone is the “hot phone” on Staten Island, after Nextels of course, but the phone keeps getting better and better. There seems to be a new edition of the Sidekick every time you blink. My roommate broke her sidekick but does not know when to get a new one because every time one comes out there’s another one advertised to come out the next month. If the phone is updated every other month is it really all that good of a phone? And why do you need all of these cool new features on a phone when there are other items around for a cheaper price. The Sidekick runs almost $300-$500. Why not buy a cell phone with unlimited texting for $150, a digital camera for $200 and not worry about upgrading every other day?

Touch Screens on Phones

Unlike touch screens for items like banking screens, computer screens, and navigation systems, touch screens on cell phones are obnoxious. Phones such as the Chocolate and the Helio are not efficient nor do they work well. To use one of those phones is almost impossible unless you sit and practice with it for hours. To dial a number you need to slide the phone open which leads you to the numbers which altogether is around 2 inches long. Then to send or clear something is not an actual button but a touch sensitive button. Those buttons are hit or miss. You either do exactly what you want or you end a call, clear all the numbers clear only 2 of the numbers, you really never know. Then when you try to scroll through your contacts list lets say, it’s a hassle because there is no arrow key to scroll with. In fact, there is no key at all. In order to scroll you have to use a centimeter long side scroll which is modeled after a computer screen. With acrylic nails like mine, it is physically impossible to complete that task. With no nails at all it is still is almost impossible. Why would you really spend so much money for technology that cannot function?

Touch Screen At Work

Technology has advanced to the point that touch screens are no longer only offered at a bank ATM. You can find touch screens on banks still, on cell phones, even on computers. I happen to be lucky enough to work at an establishment with touch screen computers. Being employed at After Hours Tuxedo in the mall is an awesome. The job itself is rather enjoyable which most people cannot say about their jobs. What makes the job even better is the touch screen system. The touch screen computer comes in very handy when you have to put in tuxedo measurements for large parties at a time. No customers want to wait for you to continuously click away at random screens. The touch screen feature allows easy access to every aspect of my job from clocking in to ringing a sale. But, of course, I have a problem with touch screen systems and work. That problem is acrylic nails. For some reason when tapping on the screen with an acrylic nail it will not register. That makes my job a little more difficult because I can touch the screen with my finger and work around the nail or I am forced to use the old school method of the computer mouse. It’s funny though, my navigation system has no problem registering the touch of the nails. I guess it’s just the type of touch screen system you have.

GPS Systems

GPS systems are amazing devices. It takes you anywhere you have to be, or so they say. Navigation systems work to the extent of getting you to major places and major roads, but small side streets your still on your own. I happen to be terrible with directions and tend to get lost going almost anywhere, especially New Jersey. Going to my dance competition had to be the worst experience with getting lost. I had to be at Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School for my competition which was approximately 45 minutes away. I missed the exit off the 287 and thinking I could get off at the next exit and just turn around was the wrong idea. I took that next exit and was lost for 2 1/2 hours. I traveled through almost 10 different townships and traveled through The Oranges and Newark before I could get remotely near home. After I told my mom about this experience she gave me an early Christmas present which was The TomTom, a well-known navigation system. That night my friend and I ventured to the hotel in Bridgewater with the navigation system. It got us there in less than 45 minutes and I was very excited. The next morning I tried to get to that middle school again, keyword tried. We did not have an exact address for the school so we typed in the cross streets because TomTom offers that feature as well. Here’s the big problem with that, the cross street was not listed in the navigation system. A place that I was supposed to get to now in less than 5 minutes took me a literal hour. All in all GPS systems are relatively helpful but still are not 100% efficient.

Just Google It (Part 2)

In Part 1 "JUST GOOGLE IT," I spoke about Google, the powerful search engine, and that was slowly taking over the world...starting with YouTube. Now you may be wondering how a search engine can take over the world. There are copyrights tagged onto everything created but somehow Google is working around all of those. Meet iGoogle the newest website created by the one and only search engine Google. "What is iGoogle?" you may ask. This is a new site that offers you a chance to create a personalized iGoogle page. This page gives you access to important Google news as well as news from all over the web. On this page you can view and keep track of your Google mail, headlines from the Google searches and other top news reports. You can also view stocks, the weather and show times for movies. But, that is not it! You can also view and organize the bookmarked websites you have added to your favorites from any computer. And last, but certainly not least, you have your own section with all the content you find from the web.This site was created way back in May 2005, but after being renamed and expanded in April 2007, iGoogle has become a big name site located not only in the United States but also in Australia, India, Canada, the U.K., Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Russia, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland.Let's get serious...what is the real point of it?? Does the internet allow you to do all of this anyway? Yes. Does this provide a brand new searching process? No. Is it really necessary? In my opinion no it is not. All this is going is combining the "i" from Apple with Google and creating a facade to those who use it. Take one second a think about what the site really does. You can see bookmarks, there’s a drop down menu on your screen allowing you to do the same thing. You can read your mail? You do that regardless of what site you are using and you can check movie times? Moviefone.com allows you to do the exact same thing. So what is the real purpose of iGoogle.com? To allow Google to receive more money and that is the bottom line.