One of the fascinating predictions of all time that eventually came true is that the everyday person would communicate to another person with a personal device without wires. This was the dream of Nikola Tesla, who shared this prediction with the New York Times in 1909! (Sterbenz, 2013). Nikola wasn't a very practical businessman, so his patents responsible for the proliferation of radio broadcasting and alternative current were never attributed to him. In addition, he had lofty ideals, including a preference not to publish in academic journals and a desire to provide energy for free to people all over the world that clashed with modern capitalism.
Today Tesla would be pleased to see that most persons in the modern world have access to a device (our smartphones) that allows us to send messages, share pictures, movies, and access information without wires. It took approximately eighteen years for the first pictures to be broadcast wireless through a television (Vlku, n.d.). Part of the dream of Tesla is now commonplace in the developed world. But what had to happen for the proliferation of mobile messaging and personal communication devices? Technological innovation is a significant force required before the capabilities for smartphones were possible. The continuous improvements in microprocessors, the development of plastic, advanced software, and the mass adoption of cellular towers required ongoing enhancements in technological innovation. In addition, the practicality and accessibility of the Internet allowed smartphones to provide a utility that many people sought. Yet as Nikola Tesla learned, technology alone does not let something be successful. In addition to the technological advancements required for smartphones and wireless communications, there also needed to be economical and social forces present. Social demand for the capabilities to communicate with other people using a small device was a prominent business driver for all the supply chain companies that feed into mobile phones components, phone producers, and the telecommunication industry. The demand for on-demand messaging, faster communications, data transfers, and multimedia streaming continues to drive telecommunication providers and smartphone manufacturers to innovate by developing more advanced chips and ways to accommodate expectations. Tesla understood the human desire to communicate easily with a simple "apparatus." He was a genius of his time, creating patents for radio broadcasting and electricity delivery under Thomas Edison's Edison company. His knowledge of physics allowed him to envision the ability to transmit electromagnetic radiation from one device and receive it on another device. He may not have had the foresight to see that the microchip, software, and telecommunication companies would be the required components to achieve this feat, but he knew it was possible. I believe that those of us who work in various industries and have the knowledge, skills, and imagination about where our future innovations will lead society are often capable of making informed predictions. These predictions can come to reality more quickly when businesses couple experts in their fields (the visionaries) with business prowess and the ability to sell goods people may not even know they need (salespersons). It is a rare gift when an innovator with imagination can also identify and leverage business drivers to deliver goods into customers' hands and make dreams into reality! References Esferize. (n.d.). StackPath. Www.esferize.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://www.esferize.com/en/nikola-tesla-the-forerunner-of-wireless-communications/ Sterbenz, C. (2013, September 3). 16 Of The Most Impressive Predictions Of All Time. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/predictions-from-the-past-that-came-true-2013-9#from-1909-nikola-tesla-predicted-personal-wireless-devices-7 Vlku, N. (n.d.). The History of Television (or, How Did This Get So Big?). Www.cs.cornell.edu. http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~pjs54/Teaching/AutomaticLifestyle-S02/Projects/Vlku/history.html#:~:text=The%20first%20%22television%22%20system%20broadcast
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AuthorI am a Doctoral Scholar at Colorado Technical University and a graduate of the Cyber Security Operations and Leadership program from the University of San Diego. I work in cybersecurity, and have accumulated twenty years in the IT industry. There are few IT roles I have not performed, which gives me great insights into making sense of all the IT confusion. Archives
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