Disruptive technology will change our lives

Now we are in the computer age, and changes are happening so fast that it is difficult to keep up.

years BC.

Amajor step was the Roman alphabet, which did not rely on pictures, and was developed from other civilisations in about 500BC, and arguably could have helped develop the Roman Empire.

The use of numbers was widespread around the world from about 5000BC, but the introduction of 0 (zero) by the Hindus in about 500AD enabled modern mathematics.

This is known as the Hindu-Arabic system, as it uses Arabic shaped numbers with a Hindu 0, and from this time on wecould write messages and do modern mathematics, which have spread around the world to the benefit of trade and civilisation.

There were probably many other disruptors, such as the invention of gunpowder by the Chinese, but personally I can’t see it as one.

In myview the next big disruptor was the moveable typeface in 1450 that enabled the printing of cheap books that could be read by a huge number of people. Reading up to then had been largely limited to the nobility and the church, but with modern printing people like Chaucer could write the Canterbury Tales, a great read and a far cry from the Bible.

The development of the lateen rig by the Portuguese in about 1500AD enabled long distance exploration of the planet, and must have a place as a disruptor because it brought so much wealth to Portugal and established trade around the world.

The next big step was the Agricultural Revolution, which started in the mid-1700s and improved farming massively through a wide number of developments that multiplied the productivity of food production.

This brought great wealth to farmers, started the move to cities by redundant farm workers, and the growth of cities.

Closely following was the Industrial Revolution, which began with water mills making cloth but quickly moved to coal and the Bessemer furnace making steel. Stephenson’s Rocket in 1829 also enabled railways and cheap transport.

From then on wehave had two centuries of incredible progress, with the wide use of electricity and oil products, medical improvements, air travel and improved wealth for many nations.

Nowweare in the computer age, and changes are happening so fast that it is difficult to keep up. Google started in 1998, just over 20 years ago, and in myview the internet has changed New Zealand from an isolated farming nation to a modern, connected country.