Introduction
Key among Apple’s sources of dominance and competitive advantage in the international technology arena is its reputation for creative and transcendent ideas that have profoundly influenced contemporary communication trends. Nevertheless, sustaining this position requires a constant stream of new ideas with a futuristic edge to them to ensure it keeps ahead of the competition in posterity.
Body
One possible direction Apple can take in keeping up with its avant-garde innovations is developing camera technology with highly specialized facial recognition software. Apple can design cameras that can synchronize with the growing online database of personal information and take advantage of wearable technology.
Case in point, instead of people swapping business cards or personal information manually. Their cameras could simply pick up facial features and download entire profiles to their phones. With such technology, Apple will be almost guaranteed continued ascendancy in digital and mobile photo technology a quarter a century from now, safe from the risk of being relegated to obscurity like erstwhile market leaders such as Kodak.
Competition by smartphone manufacturers has escalated above the traditional platforms, such as operating systems to new frontiers, especially the quality and capacity for integration of hardware and new software.1 Currently, Apple is expressing a great deal of interest in 3D and virtual technology related apps designed to recreate reality experiences.
In addition to experimenting with wearable technology similar to Google glasses, they are also developing custom-made headsets intended to enhance the interaction between their cameras and the user’s online and offline environments. Google is currently leading the pack with their Android OS,2 which they are working on integrating into their revolutionary glasses and other camera designs. Therefore, Apple needs to develop more innovative technology to make certain their grasp on the digital photography market.
With the growing popularity and influence of social networking, many people have created online profiles and this has motivated data companies to create systems where such personal data can be collected and indexed. While there are inevitable privacy concerns, the development of technology appears to be numbing people to the idea of intrusion as more personal information becomes accessible on the internet.
By developing cameras with facial recognition and indexing abilities, Apple can easily capitalize on the wave of indexing personal data that will emerge from the mainstreaming of social networks.
The ideal situation is one where, using wearable devices, one can scan a crowd and identify the person they are most likely to get along with, or whom they share common interests. The technology will be instrumental in actually making it easier for people to socialize, especially since contemporary handset and PC-based social networks have been criticized for being antisocial.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Apple needs to focus its creative energies on a more interactive and intelligent camera design so that it can be ready to integrate itself with the needs of tomorrow’s consumers. However, given the evident security and privacy concerns, it is critical that technology users are made aware of online security and privacy risks to prevent them from providing sensitive information that may be used against them.3 In the end, should Apple rise to the occasion and embrace the technological needs of the future, the firm will almost certainly retain their innovative edge for which their late founder was renowned.
Bibliography
Charnigo, Laurie, and Paula Barnett-Ellis. “Checking out Facebook. com: The impact of a digital trend in academic libraries.” Information technology and libraries 26, no. 1 (2013): 23-34.
Hong, Jason. “Considering privacy issues in the context of Google glass.”Commun. ACM 56, no. 11 (2013): 10-11.
Satyanarayanan, Mahadev. “Mobile computing: the next decade.” ACM SIGMOBILE Mobile Computing and Communications Review 15, no. 2 (2011): 2-10.
Footnotes
- Jason, Hong. “Considering privacy issues in the context of Google glass.”Commun. ACM 56, no. 11 (2013): 10.
- Mahadev, Satyanarayanan,. “Mobile computing: the next decade.” ACM SIGMOBILE Mobile Computing and Communications Review 15, no. 2 (2011): 4.
- Laurie, Charnigo and Barnett-Ellis, Paula. “Checking out Facebook. com: The impact of a digital trend on academic libraries.” Information technology and libraries 26, no. 1 (2013): 25.