Mark Twain once said: "Life is unpredictable, but there are two things that cannot be escaped: one is death, and the other is paying taxes." If Mr. Twain was still alive, he might have added Article 3: The progress of science and technology. Indeed, because of the development of technology, the way people shop, listen to music, watch TV, and obtain information is very different from what they used to be. It is conceivable that in another ten years, fast-moving technology will obsolete many of the technologies used in life today. Technological updates are dizzying, and it’s hard to predict which technologies will disappear and which new trends will emerge. Recently, George Cole, a British newspaper technology columnist, wrote an article showing the development and changes of daily scientific and technological products. Let us follow George Cole to the UK to see what is gradually "trending" in technology today, and what is slowly "disappearing" is What:
Mobile Payments Consumers
in Japan can use their mobile phones to buy goods, just swipe the phone over a scanner, and the fee is transferred from the consumer's bank account to the merchant. Banks and retailers in European and American countries are also negotiating cooperation to promote this convenient payment method. Not to mention micropayments, after selecting the goods, shake the smart card with short-range radiation function in front of the scanning device, and the payment is completed.
This payment method requires secure identification technology, so the biometric identification system with the function of recognizing fingerprints and faces came into being. Biometric authentication technology passports use this technology.
Checks
Checkbooks are going to be collectibles in the near future! Checks will gradually disappear from the market in 2018, provided a suitable alternative payment method can be found.
Cheques have been widely used in the past. According to statistics, 2.4 billion personal cheques were written in 1990. This year, it is estimated that there are 60 million cheques, accounting for only one-third of retail payments. On the one hand, many retailers are beginning to reject checks, and on the other hand, consumers are more willing to pay with cash, debit cards, online and other methods.
The development of intelligent identification technology is an important driving force for the change of payment methods. This identification technology enables people to easily and quickly realize payment in front of smart devices, so the signing transaction will gradually disappear into memory.
Today, while cash payments make up 60% of all transactions, 80% of them are worth less than £10 per transaction. According to the current situation, it is predicted that the transaction volume paid by cash will not exceed 50% in 5 years.
Broadband internet and audio and video file downloads Seven
out of ten UK households have broadband internet access, most of which also use wireless Internet access technology, as well as wireless headsets, keyboards, mice, etc. The popularity of broadband networks has made people willing to use the Internet to enjoy music and videos, because it only takes a few seconds to download a song and a few minutes for a movie. This has directly led to a skyrocketing business volume for the online music retailer, which sold 15 million singles last year, 98% of which were downloaded. People can also build their own online music library at home and enjoy music videos on the computer at any time. Home audio is slowly withdrawing from people's sight.
The sluggish Internet and
records Remember the snail-crawling internet speeds of "cats"? Online broadband has changed all that, and the record industry as well. We've been listening to music on records for decades, first encrypted stereo records and then CDs. For the past six years, people have been enjoying music in other ways, such as fast Internet downloads of audio or online music libraries, and record sales have declined year by year, with DVD sales falling by 6 percent last year. The once prosperous DVD industry began to slump. Film and television companies originally believed that consumers could replace DVDs with Blu-ray discs with higher quality. Now it seems that this desire has become a basket case.
Online Shopping
Online payments and shopping will be hotter trends. Statistics show that in the first three months of the year, 51% of UK adults enjoyed the convenience of "click-to-buy" through online shopping. What is even more surprising is that people can use mobile phones to surf the Internet wirelessly anywhere. This kind of smart phone uses computer technology and Internet wireless connection, and also has functions such as satellite positioning services. This positioning technology can make you at any time, Get the information you need from anywhere, such as where the nearest post office is, where you are, and more. It's so convenient! Shopping
is no longer a sight to behold, and more people choose to buy books, records and other items online.
For example, in 2004 there were about 780 independent record stores; now there are fewer than 300. This is especially true of the book market, where most observers believe that online book sales will account for the largest market share of book sales. In aggregate terms, shopping volume fell by 7% last year, accounting for only 55% of the market, and this trend is irreversible.
Reading e-books The
information age has changed the way people read. The traditional reading volume has grown slowly or even stagnant, but e-reading has made great progress. By 2018, sales of e-books will surpass that of paper books. E-books have greatly explored the reading potential of readers. These e-books are only the size of a thin traditional book and are lighter in weight. However, they can store thousands of e-books for "owners" to read anytime, anywhere, while taking the subway. , You can enjoy reading when you are in line. Paper books, newspapers and magazines will not disappear, but there will be more and more readers with electronic reading devices and e-books, and reading in life will no longer be the past. looks like it.
Outdated radio and television viewing
Now that radios also use digital technology, there are more stations to choose from. People can listen to global radio stations online, including financial, entertainment, social news, popular songs, folk music, symphony and other kinds of music. This is even more the case for TV. From digital TV to Internet-based interactive TV to mobile TV, TV programs satisfy consumers' needs from the traditional family-based unit to the individual-based unit. One can realize the demand for watching TV on the Internet by downloading Internet TV software or opening a broadband website or a podcast website. The way people watch TV has changed a lot, and it will be difficult to reproduce the scene of many people in front of a TV in the future.
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