Embracing the Embedded Era
We often see scenes like this in sci-fi novels describing future life:
One weekend morning, Jenny is awakened by soft music from her phone on the pillow. As she sits up, still sleepy, the computer on her desk automatically turns on, and a clear voice comes from the speakers — the day’s weather and news Jenny cares about. One piece about a zoo discount catches her attention. She wants to visit the zoo during her free time. Jenny tells the computer to order a ticket; the computer handles everything and pays from Jenny’s bank account.
After breakfast, Jenny takes the bus to the zoo. On the bus, she logs into her email on her phone and finds a new message from a friend. She dictates her reply and the phone composes and sends it.
At the zoo, the access system knows Jenny has purchased a ticket and lets her in easily. Meanwhile, the wireless network has automatically downloaded the zoo map and attractions to Jenny’s phone. Using the map on her phone, she easily finds the lion exhibit. While admiring the lions, an information board displays details about the species and habits, and asks if she’d like a photo with the lions. Jenny agrees; a digital camera automatically chooses the angle, focuses, shoots, and asks how she wants the photo handled. She tells it to send it to her home.
After a happy day at the zoo, Jenny returns home and finds the digital photo frame by her bedside now shows her photo with the lions.
Since the dawn of humanity, every technological revolution has dramatically changed our way of life. Today, the information industry revolution, represented by computer technology, is playing that same role. In just the last few years, some of the scenes described above have become reality. As technology advances, we have reason to believe more scenarios will come true. Key to all this is the普及 (popularization) of information and computing power.
In fact, for any technology to truly change human life, popularization is crucial. Let’s compare the Industrial Revolution with the Information Revolution.
In the mid-17th century, James Watt’s invention of the steam engine marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine represented unprecedented energy. But for a long time, since energy couldn’t be transmitted or普及 (popularized), consumption sites were also production sites. Steam engines were mostly used in large factories and workshops — the giant steam engines standing inside workshops became the era’s symbol.
In the mid-19th century, Siemens invented the generator. Soon after, Edison built the first power station in New York. From then on, energy could be transmitted as electricity via cables to various devices far away, paving the way for energy popularization. Gradually, power grids grew wider and denser, energy became ubiquitous, and was widely used in production and daily life.
Now look at the mid-20th century: all around us — from airplanes, ships, cars, to electric shavers, flashlights — energy is everywhere. It’s hard to imagine life without these things. They’ve become indispensable.
As energy became ubiquitous, we became less aware of its presence. We enjoy美妙 (wonderful) music from CD players, but when we press the “Open” button to eject the CD tray, how many realize an electric motor is driving that tray? The technical details of energy use have been hidden.
Clearly, the ultimate result of the Industrial Revolution was highly普及 (widespread) energy, while hiding its technical details and embedding it into daily life, ultimately changing our way of life.
In 1946, the world’s first computer, ENIAC, was born at the University of Pennsylvania. This largely marked the beginning of the computer era or the Information Revolution. Like the steam engine, computing power or information resources couldn’t be普及 (popularized) at that time — computers were only used for military and scientific计算 (computing). People saw computers as奇妙 (mysterious), mysterious, and perhaps somewhat terrifying giant “black boxes.” These were mainframes and minicomputers — representing the first era of the information industry.
PCs and the Internet pushed the Information Revolution to a new stage. Cheap yet practical PCs made the dream of “a computer on every family’s desk” a reality. Computers left military and scientific research behind, truly serving the public and渗入 (infiltrating) daily life. The Internet was also initially military, later transitioning to civilian use. At the end of the last century, Internet technology飞速 (rapidly) developed — more machines connected, bandwidth grew, access methods diversified… The Internet’s contribution to the Information Revolution rivals that of the power grid to the Industrial Revolution. Information could be conveniently transmitted over distance; accessing information became increasingly simple. Meanwhile, more traditional industries underwent computer and network洗礼 (transformation). E-books, e-maps, e-games, e-mail, e-cards — all newborns of that era.
Entering the 21st century. After nervously experiencing the Y2K crisis and the bursting of the Internet bubble, computer technology and information industry development didn’t stop. People demanded more from when, where, and how they accessed information. The expectation was “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere, Any device” — information at your fingertips. PDAs, smartphones, digital TV set-top boxes, portable media centers… consumer electronics sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain.
As computing分散 (dispersed), it also merged with the environment. When we swipe a card to enter the subway, nobody realizes our transit card contains a 4- or 8-bit CPU and a few KB of memory. When we withdraw cash from an ATM, nobody considers whether the ATM uses an RJ-45 connection behind it.
Comparing with the ultimate result of the Industrial Revolution, we can infer where the Information Revolution is heading. We have reason to believe that, perhaps in the near future, traditional computers may gradually disappear from our sight, but computing will become ubiquitous. And this will once again completely change human生活方式 (way of life).
The era of embedded systems has arrived!