Fading Geographical Constraints

Fading Geographical Constraints

Going through “Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy” brought back an interesting piece I read a few months ago. In particular, this paragraph echoed loudly:

“The world’s largest taxi firm, Uber, owns no cars. The world’s most popular media company, Facebook, creates no content. The world’s most valuable retailer, Alibaba, carries no stock. And the world’s largest accommodation provider, Airbnb, owns no property. Something big is going on (McRae).”

The report and the aforementioned paragraph clearly signify that we are living in a world that is experiencing technological changes at a rate never witnessed before. What we deemed impossible fifteen years ago is a major part of our reality now. Our future will be particularly exciting because of its unpredictability in terms of what doors technological advancements open for us.

However, apart from the macro business implications the report talks about, I would like to mention the importance of the micro changes in lifestyle brought about by technology. To provide an example, I will reflect on my own life. As an international student, I can call my family any time I want for free and get amazing voice quality today. About fifteen years ago, an international call would have been a tedious and expensive process that would have required a lot of monetary resources and exquisite time management to coordinate. These days, “mom, the chicken’s bland, what else was I supposed to add?” is a query I can shoot in an instant, and get a just-as-instant response to (if the time difference matches up, of course). Consequently, advancements in connectivity have played a part in allowing more students to pursue studies internationally with lesser worries compared to the situation two decades ago. This micro change has lead to other bigger changes in the future since brain power that was bound by geographical boundaries now has easier means of transitioning to a completely different continent, and nurture itself to maximize its potential. This ties up with a major takeaway from last week’s lecture as well: it is usually the smaller incremental changes that build sustainable impact. With more people becoming less geographically restrained, the flow of knowledge and human capital is pushing us to advance in ways that have never been possible before. These small changes, I believe, are the foundation upon which the bigger changes compound on. And it is always insightful to keep these in mind as well while we discuss the bigger, flashier changes.

Work Cited

McRae, Hamish. "Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, and the Unstoppable Rise of the Content
            non-generators." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 5 May
            2015. Web. 05 Sept. 2016.