NiQsTeR

Latest trends. Tons of Opportunities for the information technology people. The union of the latest trends and the greatest opportunities this society offers for people. Those are the things came up to my mind when I read about our fourth exercise in Technopreneurship. If you see our society today new brands and models of mobile phones pops out in flash, huge IT companies are growing everywhere offering such great opportunities for people. When I thought making this essay, I find too simple but yet it is hard to take down because of the number of latest new things our society has. Lots of ideas came up to my mind that I end up blank. But still I will try to recover things up. So, what are my observations on about our latest trends not just in our country but worldwide as well? Actually there are a lot of things to look out for.

The information revolution is rapidly spreading and dominating our society. Everywhere we look and everything you touch have a touch of Information Technology on it. Aside from computers information technology is also present in our home appliances, mobile phones, even in simple image making, editing and logo designing can be done with the help of the latest technology in our society. But first let me just define what are these terms all about.

TRENDS

What is hot and what is not? What is cool and what is old-fashioned? Trends can be defined as the latest kinds of everything that is being used on this period of time. And sometimes it could be defined as a direction of inclination in which things are headed to. It could also be a tendency of a movement of something. I find trends as what is “in” and what is “out” of the era, a popular taste at a given time. A trend can obviously be noticed because you can see it everywhere. It could be in the sense of fashion, architecture, even in the way the people speak and most especially in the technology we have today. You see, if you try to observe from our history, lots of changes happened and it is inevitable. And we are now on the 21st century, new trends are coming especially in information technology which we know changes its trends rapidly and in a flash. If we talk about information technology trends as of today, you could cite hi-tech gadgets as one. I could still remember how we use VHS players before and using VHS tapes for viewing some old videos, then from VHS we have the VCD (or the Video Compact Disc) players and us CDs to watch videos and play music, form VCDs we o now to the DVD (or the Digital Video Disc) players which have the DVDs that could store up to 24 movies in one disc. For computers, we have the Pentium computers but now we have i7 for Intel which is way faster than the old processors. We also have some new laptops that are very cool like Apple’s MacBook Air, Sony Vaio and whole lot more, and for Christmas, I want a MacBook, hehehe. LCD (or the Liquid Crystal Display) and LED (or the Light Emitting Diode) televisions are the latest TV that more people are using now we also have it as desktop computer monitors. For me, one of the things I find fast in changing its trends is mobile devices. I could still remember using Nokia 3310 and it was the coolest phone that time, it was like everyone is dying to have one of it but now we have Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy S or popularly known as that Android phone also LG’s Optimus which I also know as an Android phone. In the communication world, I could still remember sending snail mails that take 3 days before the recipient receives it but now we EMAIL or the Electronic Mail that takes up a second to be sent to the receiver. And if you could observe, internet surfing can now be done using just your mobile phones and you now do not have to go to the internet cafes or open up your computers to send emails or check your inboxes. Internet connection evolved as well, before we have the DIAL-UP connections to DSL or the Digital Subscriber Line or also we have the BROADBAND which is way faster than dial-ups. We also have the plug-it devices for laptops and desktops too, actually I am using one now, and it has the same speed as DSL and it is very handy especially for outgoers because you can bring it anywhere. Aside from those connections, the latest among them is the WI-FI connection or the Wireless Local Area Network is used by most of the people nowadays especially laptop users and for now, even mobile devices also have wifi connectivity too. For job-seekers, you could now look for jobs by just sitting in-front of your computers and just wait for the employers to contact you, online jobs are also available for freelancers like some of my friends who love to stay at home and too lazy to look for work outside.

You see, everything changes easily. And because humans are always asking for more, these things I could maybe outdated already. People are so much into thinking how we could improve our lives and make our works easier and efficient.

OPPORTUNITIES

What is an opportunity? For me, it’s a favorable circumstance that could maybe help you and you could benefit from it. It is like giving you a chance to do something that benefits you. As I have observed lately, opportunities are everywhere, can be easily seen especially if your eyes are open and the willingness to achieve your goals is there. Even if you just sit in-front of you computer the whole day, you could still see a lot of opportunities there. What more if you are to explore more in the cyber world, numerous of opportunities are spreading.

Have you been to Ortigas in Manila? Well, I have not. Hehe. But I have seen some pictures of my friends when we had our field trip there. I have seen gigantic buildings and amazing sights, it was like they were on another country. As I was watching, I could sense that there are a lot of opportunities for people because of the fast changes and the evolution of technology in our society. Even here on Davao, IT companies are arising everywhere, like Concentrix and Sutherland. They give great opportunities for people, fresh graduate or even undergraduate can work there. Before the information revolution, I could still remember how people especially newly graduated students suffer from being unemployed and looking for jobs. If I am to review everything I have learned in Technopreneurship, there are still a lot of things to be discovered, a lot of opportunities to conquer and things to be explored. Every one of us is talented and skillful, if we are going to use these, I know for sure that we are going to succeed in whatever career that we will take.

CONVERGENCE
Just so you know, this word is not anymore new to me, but, a very big BUT, the meaning of it is still unclear to me. I tried to look for definitions online and this is what I got, from Wikipedia, “Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies.” So basically, convergence is about different things that meet, interact or converge. For example, let us say the PSITS event or the Philippine Society of Information Technology Students, once a year we hold an event where IT students from different schools gather to create great camaraderie and friendship among others, which is called convergence. There are a lot of types of convergence, it could be in by means of medical, math, technology, and a lot more. But since we are talking about the IT convergence and the trends and opportunities it has, we will just cite some points on what will happen if IT trends and IT opportunities combine.

There are a lot of things that are involved in this convergence (this is from Wikipedia):

THE INTERNET

The most popular medium in mass communication at this era. Everyone and everything is n the internet. People, places, things, and events you can find them on the internet. Even the latest headlines on the news are available over the net. Want some research samples? There are a lot of it spreading over the cyber world. Business and communication is best on this medium. In business, putting up your online store can also be done here, E-bay can be one good example, E-bay is now one of the best sites that offer stuff with great security. I also have some friends who sell their stuff over the internet like t-shirts, accessories and even gadgets too, whether it is second hand or brand new. Try to put your company online, it will be a huge blast, since people are into surfing so much, it is a good chance to boost up you company’s advertising schemes in order to be known and be popular. In communication, the internet is also the leading medium. After cellular phones, the internet became the hub of every people. If you try to contact someone, you could find the information over the net. If you want to announce something, everybody on the internet will know. Even reunions happen on the internet too. That how important and valuable the internet is.

MESSAGING CONVERGENCE

Messaging including SMS, MMS and EMAIL are some of the factors that contribute to the convergence of the IT trends and opportunities. You see, SMS and MMS can be done on mobile phones right? So since, mobile trends are fast evolving, even emailing can be done on it too.

HOME NETWORK

Since internet is worldwide, you could be in any place while just sitting. Being able to meet other people from other countries is a great thing too. Being able to develop my communication skills by talking to foreigners is very important to me. Being able to earn money while playing is fun in a way that there no pressure and I can still do whatever I want whenever I want to. Being able to have fun while talking to some old friends from the past is a hug thing to me. That is why I am very thankful to the technology.

THE CONVERGENCE

So what is this “Trends and Opportunities in Convergence” all about? So if we are going to analyze everything, it is where the latest trends and the opportunities it offers that meets together to set something and to help the society to improve. It has been a long time since this convergence began but only a few people in our country responded to it and noticed it. With the help of these latest trends and the opportunities it offers, people can live and earn money the easiest way. I also have a friend who earns at least 15,000 pesos a month by just writing an article and updating his blog. I got envious when I heard about it so I tried to do my own thing as well. I know have my own blog but still I am in the b\newbie stage. I also have some friends who earn money by just making logo designs which they can sell it to their foreign clients and earn dollars. With a simple help from these trends and the hi-tech things we have right now, everything is smooth-sailing and progressive.

Having IT trends and opportunities to converge brought new life to our society. It has greatly improved our ways of living especially those who went for several sufferings just to survive. Even high school graduate people can live the life they want to even though they do not have any degree attained.