Jim Thomas Speaks at Seminar Series on March 29
Jim Thomas
Computers and the entire field of Information Technology are changing so rapidly that dreams are coming true faster than most people can keep track of them and they are changing our society in ways we can't yet imagine.
These and other topics were explored when Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Columbia Basin College presented Jim Thomas in the Community Science and Technology Seminar Series, March 29 at the CBC Workforce Training Center.
"Just as the car and the light bulb changed society, so have computers. Major changes are coming and for some it will be a fun adventure. The best is yet to come, but for some it will be a real challenge because some of the changes will be disruptive," Thomas said.
Thomas is considered one of the fathers of computer graphics and has been involved at the cutting edge of computer and information technology for the past 30 years. He is the Chief Scientist for Information Technologies at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has won numerous national and international awards for innovation and has led several national interdisciplinary science teams to define research and industrial action agendas. He has served on the Academy of Sciences panel for Virtual Reality and sits on several national and international science and technology boards for universities, states and industry.
As an example of the rapid changes taking place, Thomas says high speed communications links are rapidly being established all over the world and more will come as additional communications satellites are put into orbit, allowing people to stay in touch from anywhere in the world.
Improvements in computer graphics, developed initially for the entertainment industry, are now being used by the military to augment training. And cellular telephones have become so common that there is now an emerging industry that recycles these products when they fail or become outdated.
"We saw the evolutions from big super computers down to the desk top computers. The next evolution will be installing computer applications in such devices as kitchen appliances and connecting automobiles to the Internet, along with a new suite of hand- held information appliances," Thomas said.
A new frontier will be enabled by the World Wide Web, which has yet to reach its full potential. "Web graphics will impact how we learn and how we share cultural experiences. Not only will they allow us to learn, they will allow us to experience far more than we can through conventional means. We will change our goals on the web from access and retrieve to people sharing experiences facilitated by digital media." Thomas said.
But Thomas says the advances in technology won't come without a price. "The technologies will change many aspects of our lives from the way we buy goods and services to the way we learn. Many industries are already feeling the impact of these changes and more is yet to come," Thomas said.
The amount of money being spent on research to do things like connecting home appliances to the Internet is staggering. And very soon the number of computerized devices being manufactured will greatly outnumber the computers," Thomas said.
He believes information overload is a built-in danger which is going to have to be resolved as the technology advances. "Individuals already have trouble digesting all of the information confronting them on a daily basis and the problem will only get worse. A dozen institutions are already working on this problem and solutions are beginning to emerge," Thomas said.
"We are in a technology push mode that will stimulate new applications. The technology will give us new ideas and the interface between devices and the new technology will be hottest area in computing in the next ten years," Thomas said. He also sounded a word of warning. "We must develop technology responsibly and try to figure out how it will impact society before we put it on the market. Otherwise, we run the risk of creating more problems than we solve."
The lecture series is supported by the Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science and Technology and by the local chapter of Sigma Xi, the international honor society of scientific and engineering research.
