Saturday, November 24, 2007

Michelle H.-Mike Leibhold

I really enjoyed Mr. Leibhold’s discussion on ubiquitous computing. I was really surprised with how many concepts and ideas he had discussed that my group had also discussed for our future scenario. It was encouraging to see we are on the right track. Mr. Leibhold seemed very optimistic about the future as far as how technology would interplay with our lives. Many of our discussions in class had looked at the darker side of technology so this was refreshing to see his point of view.

The idea of geoannotations was very interesting to me. I can definitely see how our society is moving towards this. It seems to be a natural extension of my space and blogging, where people can share their pictures as well. I am currently planning a trip to Hawaii, and would love to have something like this. I could get pictures from actual visitors from of different islands and make a better decision about which I would want to see.

Digital tagging products are another concept Mr. Leibhold discussed that I thought could be very beneficial for consumers. Of course, I am sure businesses will find uses for it as well. I have been in the grocery store countless times and unable to decide between two products or even unable to find a product. Especially with the recent concerns parents are having about the lead content of toys, I could imagine parents using this technology to look up which toys have had recalls or customer complaints. I think this would further force companies to be responsible with what the put on the market. It could be like the Better Business Bureau on steroids. It would also take comparison shopping to the next level allowing consumers to be even more powerful.

While Mr. Leibhold presented lots of potential products and innovations, these were the ones that stood out the most to me. I think it confirms at lot of what my group has discussed and it is great to have an expert opinion back up our own ideas. In all our in class discussion of the future, this was the first time where I am actually looking forward to what future technology may do for our lives. I am really glad Mr. Leibhold was able to come and I hope Mr. Brooks will continue to bring more speakers like him for his future classes.

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