Ray Kirzweil, The Future of Technology

Listening to Ray Kirzweil’s presentation on the advances of technology, I was greatly surprised at the technological advancements that weren’t available to the everyday person. In his opinion new technology becomes available to the public on an exponential level when there is a need and availability for the product. He uses solar panels an example because they are heavy and expensive to build and over time they will become less expensive with the advancements of nano technology which greatly improves their productivity and reduces expenses. An example of improvement in size and reduction in price would be cell phones. Cell phones have greatly reduced in price and have also increased in capacity of great applications, which in turns means it exponentially produces more for the consumer!
The most exciting thing about Kirzweil’s presentation is his belief that after one craze, or paradigm begins to fade out, it opens the door to new technology to be available to the masses. These new technologies will be most beneficial in the health care fields in which he predicts the creation of a robotic, red blood cell which would allow the average person to hold their breath for hours at a time, and even obtain the heightened skill level of an Olympic sprinter. However, the most important thing about new technological advances in medicine is the fact that progress increases at an exponential rate. He uses the example that it took us fifteen years to sequence HIV, where as SARS was sequenced in thirty one days. Although I find some of his predictions somewhat farfetched, and fear that society will become less and less independent from any form of technology, I am excited to see what the future of technology holds.