Greatest Advancement in Communications and Information Technology?

What do you think is the greatest advancement in the information and communications technology industry over the last 10 years?


This may sound like an essay topic, and that's because it is. Its for a scholarship and I can't think of something that's actually a great advancement yet not super obvious and common. I've gone over the obvious ones like facebook, youtube, instant messaging and text messaging, but I'm afraid the most others will already cover that. Any other great advancements I can't think of? :huh:

Note: Information and communications technology consists of IT as well as telephony, broadcast media, and all types of audio and video processing and transmission.

I would REALLY appreciate it if you help!
 
I just did a class over this radio...
http://www.rfcomm.harris.com/capabilities/tactical-radios-networking/an-prc-117g/default.asp

It's probably the greatest radio the military has ever seen. Not only does it do line of sight communication but it can also be used as a satellite radio and it can also push data full duplex. You could literally play xbox live over this radio.

You should do some research on military communications. I bet none of your classmates thought of that.
 
I think you could do computer, but from a different angle: Nanotechnologies that allow our incredibly complex computer systems into something as small as a cell-phone.

:)
 
The combination of cell-phone cameras/videos and internet distribution of those videos.

They have spoiled the "official line" over and over again.
 
Thanks for the replies! Keep em' coming if anyone has more.

@ gooberman- that looks a brilliant radio. and your idea is certainly original. I'll definitely consider it but my only gripe is, though i'm sure its infinitely beneficial to soldiers, i'm not sure its considered one of the greatest advancements in communication simply because it isn't widely known and hasn't affected masses of people.

As for the smartphone/nano computer suggestion, though it'll probably be overdone, smartphones really are breakthroughs in technology. I may end up doing this but a different spin on it to stand out

Thanks! :)
 
Thanks for the replies! Keep em' coming if anyone has more.

@ gooberman- that looks a brilliant radio. and your idea is certainly original. I'll definitely consider it but my only gripe is, though i'm sure its infinitely beneficial to soldiers, i'm not sure its considered one of the greatest advancements in communication simply because it isn't widely known and hasn't affected masses of people.

As for the smartphone/nano computer suggestion, though it'll probably be overdone, smartphones really are breakthroughs in technology. I may end up doing this but a different spin on it to stand out

Thanks! :)

You could go more abstract on the smartphone thing, and actually cover the robotics that make it possible to make components small enough to create smartphones/iPods/iPads/etc. There's a good chance you'd be the only one covering that (or at least that it would be a very small group).
 
Smart phones & Twitter

I think that you misunderstood - the combination of smart phones and twitter is the revolution, one was not possible without the other. Everything from creative to criminal flash mobs to the unseating of a congressman because of twitter. You can follow just about anyone or anything.
 
What do you think is the greatest advancement in the information and communications technology industry over the last 10 years?

Ubiquitous Bandwidth.

Without which social networking would be dead in the water, smartphones would still be nokia candy bars that are good for phone calls and playing Snake, and you tube wouldn't even exist.

Bandwidth my friends, is why movie theaters have digital projectors that can live stream concert events, opera performances, or whatever you can book into the networks that provide this content to theaters.

Think about what you were using to connect to the internet in 2001. What phone did you have in 2001? how many smart phones were in non-industrialized nations in 2001, how much internet access?

Growth in the reach and speed of bandwidth is the backbone of every other communications advance in the last decade. Without the collective advances in technology and rapid deployment of the same, well, we'd be back in the old days of shotgun modems and very early dsl links.

Expand this out 20 years, and the growth curve in bandwidth reach and speed is even steeper. Think about this: In 1991 I connected a Commodore 128 to a television, plugged in a 300baud modem and routinely connected to the UNIX servers at my school to read usenet, occasionally fiddle with this new thing called e-mail, and play text based games. :lol:
 
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Ubiquitous Bandwidth.

And to expand on that, 3G networks and mobile broadband. Mobile internet has begun unlocking the economies and manpower of hitherto forgotten countries (well forgotten by the West, anyway) in Africa and South Asia. And this is just the beginning.
 
Was going to post Geo-Sats myself, but OP is looking for advancements within the past 10 years.

Oh, yeah -- actually reading the entire question helps.

Then I say bandwidth as well. And jetpacks.

Food for thought: I think pay-by-phone is potentially a big deal, because it's a big step towards a cashless society. Also, drive-by-wire. Nevada just passed the first drive-by-wire regulatory legislation.
 
Oh, yeah -- actually reading the entire question helps.

Then I say bandwidth as well. And jetpacks.

Food for thought: I think pay-by-phone is potentially a big deal, because it's a big step towards a cashless society. Also, drive-by-wire. Nevada just passed the first drive-by-wire regulatory legislation.

Pay-by-phone or various other universal payment mechanisms are definitely in our very near future.

Drive-by-wire on the other hand, I'll fight tooth and nail to prevent giving up my driving to a computer until the day I die. :D I was an computer tech/network admin for ~12 years. No way I am trusting my truck to a computer. :lol: I may have to do some tech upgrades, QoL upgrades, but letting the computer drive? Nope.

I don't care how awesome Stanley is (and, full disclosure, freaking awesome) I drive myself. I get nervous enough with people I have known and trusted for years when I'm not the driver, never mind a machine. :P
 
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