How we shape the technology that shapes us.

As we start seeing the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we can not help but to look back at how this sequence of events has changed our lives forever. COVID-19 was responsible for putting the brakes and slowing down our daily routines and our lives to a painful degree, but in contrast, it has given a powerful injection of steroids to technology and the way we interact with it. Supposedly, every 18 or so months, computer processing speed doubles. This is known as Moore’s law.

I personally believe, that the amount of months that it takes computer processing to double is exponentially decreasing, but at a decelerated rate. In other words, I personally think that technology is doubling every X amount of months and will double faster, but do not think that we will see the day when technology will double in power every 24 hours for example.

The immeasurable increase in demand for computing and data processing that the pandemic has brought has pushed tech companies to get very creative and smarter to supply it. Companies like zoom will not be the behemoth that it is today, if it was not for the pandemic. Etsy, this online marketplace where crafters sell directly to the public has been one of the more unexpected pandemic success stories. Last week, the company posted quarterly profit that had risen a staggering 400% over last year, with homebound consumers snapping up more home decor and furnishings in particular. Peloton at-home workouts have become the norm for many people right now, and that's been a major boon for Peloton. Buyers snapped up the company's pricey stationary bikes at an unheard of clip earlier this year, boosting third-quarter sales 66% from the previous year. Peloton also held its largest-ever online class in April, with 23,000 riders streaming the same workout from home. Many other companies have seen an uptick in online transactions, visitors, and online users and it seems like we are not going to completely go back to the old days after the pandemic ends.

Most of the technological innovations we are using today, was already out and available pre-pandemic. These applications and tech protocols were created by humans to solve certain problems and/or make our lives easier and faster. We create or shape technology to fit our needs. As we start using (or abusing) certain innovations, these new technologies start shaping us and changing our daily lives and even re-wiring our brain. As companies have come to realized, there is no longer a need to have so many workers commute to a central location to do their job. They can do it from home (or anywhere they wish to work from) and connect via zoom if there is a need to interact with co-workers or for meetings. Working remotely can have a huge impact on city traffic, commercial rental property (companies can downsize office space), day care needs (for working parents), salary (as you can afford to pay less or more according to the job duties), location (you can certainly work from anywhere) and the list goes on.

“Work is becoming “decentralized.” Productivity is now in the hands of the individual. The gig economy, passion economy, and independent contracting will soon be status quo. Accelerated by this pandemic thing, work has become more remote, digital, self-monitored, and specialized.

In the near future, work will be autonomous and judged more on your perspective than on your production quantity. It will err creative, as more jobs lose the necessity for human operators.” -Unknown.

People who have opted to order their groceries online using apps like instacart may never go back to the grocery store. Gyms are still off-limits, but as mentioned above, now there are thousands of on-line live workout classes and millions of videos at your disposal. Distance learning has allowed anyone who really want to learn to just pick a class and take it whenever and wherever. Telehealth now is here to stay, just zoom in your doctor or dentist and get it done from the comfort of your home. Cryptocurrenies have exploded in value this year more than 3,000% thanks to a large number of apps that have made it easy to trade crypto. To make all this happen, the demand for tech oriented professionals, coders, programmers and tech engineers has increased exponentially.

COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, which allows business and life to continue as usual – as much as possible – during pandemics and any other natural disaster. Building the necessary infrastructure to support a digitized world and stay current in the latest technology will be essential for any business, human being or country to remain competitive.

The future will never be the same, we will never be the same. The world is rapidly becoming more decentralized. Stay ready!!!

So loong.