Google and the Future of Computing - Case Study Example

Google and the future of computing Analysis and of technology and its impact on the society There are new technologies that have been undertaken by Google that may not be a part of its core business but forms an essential part of its business operations so as to set a mark in the future. The research and development team of the company continuously undertake different innovative forms of projects that would be beneficial not only for the company but also for the society. The R&D team on a continuous basis analyzes the problem that the society is facing and then designs the technology in such a way that it can mitigate the identified problem. The first technology of Google that has been launched in some regions and is also under further modification by the R&D team is self-driving or driverless cars. The company has implemented technologies for its fist autonomous cars. The robotic cars of Google have an equipment of $150,000 and also comprises of light radar system or lidar of $70,000. The robotic car has a 64 beam laser of Velodyne in the form of a range finder that is located on the top of the car. The main objective of this beam laser is to generate 3D map of its external environment (Dourish & Bell, 2011). The generated maps from the lasers are then combined by the car itself using technology so as to form maps of high resolution of the world around so as to form various kinds of data models that allows the car to drive on its own. The major motive of the R&D team behind designing such a car was to create a flurry excitement amongst the customers and also to make riding a car comfortable for those who do not how to drive or favorable for blind people. The team has combined its add-on sensors so as to form a cross between the cozy coupe and that of Smart car. The positive impact that has such a technology would cause towards the society is that it would make it convenient for those consumer segment who are not able to drive a car for various reasons may be they are not physically capable or have a fear to drive but has a desire to purchase a car. However this new technology of Google also has some negative impacts on the society such as due to absence of steering wheels the car cannot be prevented from killing certain small animals. The entire mechanism is based on technology and generation of maps but if the maps cannot detect any human crossing the road or for instance any animal and it hurts them then there would result a question in the future as to who would take the responsibility for such an action. The other negative impact is that it would make humans very much dependent on technology even at the cost of causing serious damages to life of others. They can provide a luxurious experience for a disabled person for some time but for practical usage it can be harmful if there is certain failure in the technology of the car and it loses its directions or are not able to detect the map of the environment properly. Analysis and description of technology 2 and its impact on the society The company has also a non-profit segment that aims at developing new technology that can benefit the environment and reduce the overall impact that is created on the environment. The other technology based project that is undertaken by the R&D team of the company is to work with renewable sources of energy in the world market. The main goal through this project is to develop on energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind. The entire project is focused towards developing technology in terms of turbine engines that would operate on solar power so as to generate electricity and also heliostats of low-cost which are used for capturing solar energy and are basically in form of mirrors. The company also uses all it sources so as to detect the geothermal sources across the world. The main motive behind using technology in such energy sources is to determine the best possible way in the form of renewable source of energy that can prove to be much cheaper in comparison to burning coal (Breeze, 2005). The company with support from its various partners has taken an initiative to produce clean energy and to promote it into the market at a large scale. The company has undergone huge investments in such energy generation by utilizing the best of transformative possibilities and this even serves another purpose that is it would help in securing its high demand for energy in the nearby future. The company is even trying to locate the best places on which it can cause a technological impact of green energy and generate high returns. The main objective behind this technology is to make renewable source of energy cheaper in comparison to that of coal with the next few years down the line. This technology is not a lab based experiment but is rather to produce a high utility system that can be beneficial for the society. This technology is mainly designed for the society and majorly to protect the environment from any hazards. The usage of coal for electricity causes serious damages to the environment and that of usage of renewable energy sources for generating electricity is costly for the society. The positive impact of this clean energy technology is that it would safeguard the environment at a cost that is much less than that of burning coal so as to generate electricity. This technology would protect the environment which would serve as an ethical concern for the society by the company and would also reduce the overall cost of the society that is associated with obtaining electricity. This technology implementation will create more of positive impact in relation to negative impact. However if the company succeed in developing such renewable energy source at a cheaper cost then it would make the society to be highly depended on such energy source and any failure in the technology can disrupt the entire mechanism of generating electricity. This would even give an opportunity to the other companies to adopt such a technology and sell devices based on renewable energy sources at a much higher cost which would not be suitable for certain section of the society and hence would create a negative impact. Analysis and description of technology 3 and its impact on the society The company not only design technology that would be beneficial for the society but also adopts also possible means through which it can be considered to be one of the most innovative companies across the globe. It set forth its trade mark through a wide array of technological innovations and the most latest of all technologies that it has implemented is setting up of infrastructure outside the premises of Earth. Google is the only company that has plans and is developing technology by which an individual can leave the atmosphere of Earth without any medium such as that of rockets. Elevators to Space are one of the latest technologies that the R&D team of the company is currently working on so as to give a new edge to the way of travelling to the space. The main idea behind this technology is to develop a ribbon that would run from the Earth to any such counterweight that is present in the orbit in order to provide easy accessibility to all its users either for some kind of ventures or any scientific experimentation. There has also been news across the market that Google plans to develop and launch such lifts to the space within a decade (Travi, 2001). The space elevators has a variety of designs however there are certain aspects that are common such as that of base station, cable, counterweight and a climber. A centrifugal force is created by the Earth through its rotation which creates an impact on the counterweight that is held by the cable and on the other hand the cable is held by the this counterweight. The base station plays a major role in controlling the whole mechanism from the Earth’s surface. The climbers can then climb up and down through this cable to reach space. This essentially requires proper designing of the cable has it needs to bear the weight of the climber as well its own weight. The maximum tension that is created on the cable is on a geosynchronous altitude and hence the company is adopting best measures so that the design of the cable is tapering towards the surface of the Earth and thickest at the higher altitude. Such a technological innovation would have both positive as well as negative impact on the society. The negative impact would be that such an elevator would disrupt the natural environment of Earth and would make humans very much dependent on technology. This would even ease the convenience of individuals in terms of travelling to space which would even have a serious impact on the space and the neighboring planets in the nearby future. The positive impact is that it would help to reduce the environmental impact that is created by rocket propulsion. It would even help to save lot of time and energy that can be used by professionals to carry on their experiment in the space and thus would be a major driver in new discovery and inventions about space. Analysis and description of technology 4 and its impact on the society The company has entered into large number of areas with its new and innovative technology. There has always been a desire in humans to have automated homes and this is what the company aims at solving in its recent project that is of Android@Home. This technological platform aims at connecting coffee pots, light bulbs, etc that are present in a home. The motive of the company is to establish an idea of “internet of things” through its wide array of technology. The technology that it uses in its android kit enables the user to connect various gadgets may that be a small one to a bigger machine. The main objective behind such high tech kit is to make it very convenient for the customers to perform household work (Grubler, 2003). This technology that is being developed by the company plans to control all the appliances that are present in household may that be dishwasher, lights or even a heating system. The company would majorly use the concept of wireless communication in order to control such home appliances and this would even give a chance to many manufacturers to design new smart appliances so as to support such technology. This technology that is being developed by the company would provide the consumer market a very effective alternative for home automation systems by providing a unified solution at a low cost. The major goal of the company behind such a technology is to use the Android devices that has minimum versions of operating system and would serve as a control centre for the entire network of home automation in which each and every devices or rather appliances in a home would be talking to each other. In this technology all the appliances that are present in the home are looked upon as a group of accessories and Android would serve as an operating system of this home that would control all the accessories so that they functional properly and can eliminate the common obstacles that are faced in traditional automation systems of home. The major negative impact that such an automation system would create is it would make individuals very much dependent on the automation system and any obstacle in performing household work by such technology would make it harder for an individual to do it as they would be so much dependent and lazy. It would even restrict those individuals to perform household work properly who are not able to operate such automation system. The major positive impact that such a technology would create on the society is that it would increase convenience of household work and would save much time and effort of individuals which can be devoted by them in various productive work. It would even make all household work be performed in a very synchronous or rather systematic fashion without any such loopholes that would have resulted when performed by an individual. This would even give an opportunity to the female segment to perform their household work more conveniently and devote much of their valuable time in other activities related to their professional life. Analysis and description of technology 5 and its impact on the society The other technology that Google is developing is designing robots that can easily perform some of the mundane work either at household or at office. The company is spending a huge amount of money in its developing of this new technology in the form of these robots. The company has various sub-divisions that deals with different kind of technological innovations and similarly one of such secret divisions of the company is that of Google X that runs a lab in an undisclosed place where designing and manufacturing of such high tech robots are performed by a group of expert professionals. The R&D team of the company focuses towards designing such robots by applying the best of technology so that are able to perform house work as well as common work that are performed in office. These robots would incorporate the technology to make coffee, carry files at office, etc. The main objective of designing such technology is to give more of flexibility to people so that the basic tasks can be avoided by them and they can focus more on heavy work that requires their attention either at work or at home. In some of its business ventures there is also presence of a large number of robotic companies which it acquires so as to develop a range of robots under the same brand. Redwood, Meca Robotics, Holomini and many more companies are on the list of Google’s acquisition of robotic companies. The main focus of the company through this technological innovation is to spread the message across the environment that it is a very safe investment that can be opted for by people in robotics. Robots are unlike software that are usually designed by the company as it takes in the data that is given and it then translates the data into probable actions (Mennen, 2010). The company plans to incorporate more complex programming in such robots so that it can perform not only small tasks but also the bigger ones and becomes more of necessity in life of an individual. The major negative impact that such a technology would cause on the society would be humans would become more commanding in nature and would even misuse such robots to perform illegal tasks that could create an impact on the life of other individuals. The major positive impact that such a technology would create towards the society would be it would make individuals avoid some mundane work and focus more on important tasks. This new technology invented by the company in the form of robots would also increase the level of flexibility in the life and save much of time and effort. References Breeze, P. (2005). Power Generation Technologies. Great Britain: Newnes. Dourish, P., & Bell, G. (2011). Divining a Digital Future. USA: MIT Press. Grubler, A. (2003). Technology and Global Change. New York: Cambridge University Press. Mennen, M. (2010). Innovation & Growth. UK: GRIN Verlag. Travi, V. (2001). Advanced Technologies. Italy: Springer. Read More