Fads and Trends in Emerging Technologies
Today, I will discuss with you trends and fags in emerging technology.
Merriam-Webster defines a fad as “a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal,” (2017) and a trend is “to show a tendency” (2017). These two definitions describe that a fad is something that comes and goes, while a trend is something that drives something that then becomes enriched in our society.
While I believe that there are some fads out there; however, I believe that with some technologies, their time as not yet arrived. One example is Google Glass, who I will slot in the fad category for now.
When first put on the market, they would cost a consumer $1,500. I personally do not have that kind of money. At the time, there were predictions for the wearable technology market to “be worth more than $10 billion by 2016 and $50 billion by 2018” (PDMS, 2014). Sadly, this did not happen. Google stopped selling in January 2015 due to the price, the design and safety. Although, if you go to Google’s homepage for Glass, it states that “the journey doesn’t end here” (Google, n.d.), and is allowing developers to design and code prototypes.
For trends, I see augmented reality (AR) becoming a big trend, especially with the release of Pokémon Go last year. Besides using augmented reality for entertainment, businesses can utilize AR “to increase the productiveness of users” (Williams, 2016). As a consumer, I could also see AR used to help me with shopping. Instead of time spent getting dressed to go shopping, dealing with traffic and busy retail stores, I could just go to my favorite store’s website and log on to virtually try on clothes. Of course, I would probably have to scan in a photo of my body with different angles, but I find this idea fascinating and one that could be beneficial to consumers.
References:
Williams, D. (2016, 15 December). What’s Next? The Biggest Augmented Reality Trends of 2017? Augment.com Retrieved on 16 April 2017 from http://www.augment.com/blog/biggest-augmented-reality-trends-of-2017/
Edwards, J. (2015, 15 January). Google Ends Sales of Google Glass. Business Insider, Inc. Retrieved on 16 April 2017 from http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ends-sales-of-google-glass-2015-1
Google.com. (n.d.). Glass. Retrieved on 16 April 2017 from https://www.google.com/glass/start/
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. (2017). Fad. Retrieved on 16 April 2017 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fad
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. (2017). Fad. Retrieved on 16 April 2017 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trend
PDMS. (2017, May). Wearable Technology: Fad or Future? Retrieved on 16 April 2017 from https://www.pdms.com/news-media/insights/2014/may/wearable-technology-fad-or-future/
