The last 600 years have been remarkable times for humanity. When Gutenburg ignited the Communications Age in the 1400's with the invention of moveable type, he created the foundation for the next age - the First Industrial age. The Communications Age provided cheap, and (in those times) rapid distribution of ideas and information. It was just a matter of time before the world began to re-engineer itself.
The First Industrial Age launched with the invention of the steam engine in the 1760's. This achievement changed everything. No longer were ocean going vessels at the whim of the winds and tides - they were "under power". Trips that would have taken months previously now could be completed in weeks, sometimes even faster. We put engines into everything. We put them to work in the textile industry - an industry that previously was a "cottage industry"; thus causing unemployment for families who had woven fabrics for generations. The steam engine powered the new locomotive industries, encouraged new engineering techniques with hydraulics, which directly led to better sanitation in major cities. And better sanitation resulted in less disease, and less disease resulted in bigger and healthier populations. We attained our first billion souls in population around 1806, technology was the catalyst.
The Second Industrial Age began at the end of the the 1800's - with the harnessing of the magical power of electricity. Think about it. Prior to the 1900's, the world was a dark place, lit only by candles and kerosene, or natural gas. By the 1904 Worlds Fair, electricity was debuted in the "Palace of Electricity" - the centerpiece of the event. Electricity was touted as the technology that would change the world. They were right. Electricity powered the telegraph, then radio, and eventually television. The telephone was the central piece of the most significant change the world has seen in over a hundred thousand years. Electricity changed everything yet again. Electricity energized the Communications Age pioneered by the Gutenberg Press. Suddenly the world was brighter and talking- globally. And we had a lot to say. By 1927 there were now 2 billion souls in population.
The Second Industrial Age directly led to the Third Industrial Age - the development of computational engines - computers. The first evidence of electro mechanical computers was in the early 1930's, but wasn't until World War II that the technology began to evolve. The technology exploded in the 1980's with the introduction of the personal computer. We started to put computers into everything. And now we carry more computing power in the smart phones in our pockets than was on the entire planet in the 1950's.
1960 - 3 Billion
1974 - 4 Billion
1987 - 5 Billion
1999 - 6 Billion
2012 - 7 Billion
All of these population increases are directly related to improved technologies in medicine, food production, sanitation, transportation, production, planning - and all of these improvements can be traced to computers - the logical result of the previous Industrial Ages.
The Fourth Industrial Age is upon us. Harnessing the vast power of computers from the Third Industrial Age, the limitless imagination of humanity is exploding. We now know the human genetic code, we are building powerful social networks that are changing society and governments, we are weaving computers into our clothes, our cars and our brains. We are putting computers into everything including ourselves. We are at the beginning of what portends to be the most creative period of human existence. There is no conceivable limit to the power of human imagination. This is a fascinating time to be alive.
"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
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www.kimwilliamgordon.com
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