Kudos to Steve Yothment for his October 22, 2019 Owl & Ibis - A
Confluence of Minds presentation, "5G - The New Cellular
Network."
Steve took us from the first generation of cellular phone
technology up to the present in a concise and clear manner. Steve, an
electronics engineer, was most patient and accommodating of the attendee's many
questions and concerns. Steve also showed six short videos about 5G.
Those who could not attend the meeting may view Steve's
slideshow as a PDF document here.
Live links to the videos shown are on the last two slides.
Other questions came to mind but there wasn't enough time to
discuss them fully. Here's a sampling of thoughts Steve's presentation
elicited:
- How did Humankind progress from radar and television as new and awe-inspiring technology around the time of World War II to today and the astonishing capabilities of 5G and other electronic technologies?
- Who exactly is controlling or driving the development of 5G?
- Will 5G replace real-time human interactions?
- Is 5G's promise of selling more phone units that have faster download speeds and that are cheaper a "good" thing?
- Does the world really need robotic surgery, self-driving cars, more service technologies? Shouldn't the best minds and high tech money be used for more practical human and ecological problems?
- Will 5G contribute to hastening the ever-increasing rate at which humans speak to each other, and our reading more broadly and faster, but not necessarily more deeply? And will this thereby lower our ability to understand complex matters, especially social problems and human ethical and moral questions, in more depth?
- Cyber spying and cyber warfare were touched on especially in the videos but just how concerned should Humankind be about these life-threatening, existential matters?
- Will our deepening dependence on 5G and other electronic services make us more vulnerable to personal and social crises under such conditions as power outages and natural disasters?
Although we did not get to cover all of the above questions
and concerns, readers are invited to comment on them below and continue the
discussion.
Thanks again, Steve. Great job!
}:> ~:)
