Research Paper Sample on The Year 2000: A Significant Period of Global Change and Technological Advancements

Introduction

The year 2000 is very significant as it marks the period when I was born. Moreover, it marks a period of a variety of changes worldwide. There were many technological advancements in the year 2000. They include GPS, camera phones, hybrid cars, USB flash drive, Bluetooth, text messaging services, and Google AdWords. It is important to note that in the year 2000, internet access in homes was through a dial-up, whereas schools and businesses were using broadband connections. Also, laptops that were in use were almost similar to modern laptops. The essay will research and discuss aspects of technology in the year 2000 and the impacts of technology in the United States and all over the world.

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Global Positioning System(GPS)

GPS initiated from the sputnik period when scientists used to trail satellites in its radio signal, known as the Doppler effect. The navy in the united states used the satellite experiments to trail submarines that were transporting nuclear missiles (Baker and Colonel Phillip 175). GPS was then limited to the military. Before the year 2000, tracking a person’s location was very difficult. However, this situation changed in May 2000 when the president of the United States, Bill Clinton, gave an order for the military to stop deliberately scrambling satellite signals and hence mage the signal available to the public (Baker and Colonel Phillip 176). This made the Global Positioning System(GPS) signals available to the public with similar accuracy to that of the military. The white house announced that it was for security reasons.

Impact of GPS

The global positioning system was very important, and its importance has continued to date. First, it made it possible for people to track down a person’s location at ease (Baker and Colonel Phillip 178). Also, it made it possible for people to navigate and pinpoint locations ten times faster. A decade later, GPS has become an important part of everyday life all over the world. Receiver prices for GPS have dropped significantly, making it accessible in the united states and all over the world (Baker and Colonel Phillip 178). Devices such as phones, watches iPhone and cars have GPS installed in them. This makes it possible for a user to access real-time information on route calculation, traffic updates, location of interest, among others. The year 2000 marked a milestone in recognition of the importance of GPS to civilians.

Camera Phones

The year 2000 brought a turnaround in the development of technology. This is the year when camera phones were introduced. The first camera phone that allowed the user to share photos electronically was known as J-SH04, which was developed by sharp and released by J-phone (Ito et al. 205). After the release of these phones, other companies such as Samsung started efforts to make similar phones but with better quality in comparison to J-phone. The camera phones enabled a person to take videos and photos using the phone instantly. This came as a huge blow for the digital camera industry as digital camera sales fell. People did not require to have a specific device to take photos and videos since they could use their phones. People could now share photos from their phones, and they did not need any form of knowledge to take the photos. This is still the case currently though the camera phones have evolved and become better over time. Currently, almost all phone models have cameras. The camera models vary in the quality of the photos produced.

Impacts of Camera Phone

The invention of camera phones triggered changes. Some of the changes include: people could document memorable moments using their phones; it made it possible for a person to share pictures with as many people as possible, and also it helped strengthen social circles since people could share photos and videos (Ito et al. 207). Currently, existing camera phones have improved in quality and produce better pictures in comparison to those that existed twenty years ago. However, camera phones still have significance in society as they are now part of everyday life, especially in the upkeep of online social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, among others. The online platforms rely heavily on photos and videos, which are mainly captured and shared using phones.

USB Flash Drive

Also, this year marked the introduction of Universal Serial Bar (USB) flash drive. This was a great leap in the storage of data. The USB flash drive is a device composed of a flash memory enclosed in a sizeable container that has a USB interface (Shu). They were significant in storing data, backing it up, and even in transferring data to other devices. The flash drives were very significant since they were fast. Also, they had a greater storage capacity in comparison to other media of storage used earlier. Furthermore, they had the resilience to magnetic erasure, and they could not be scratched like the floppy discs. The USB flash drive impact was that it contributed to the fading away of floppy disks (Shu). The USB flash drives are still in use currently and have not lost their significance in data storage. They are now available in different capacities depending on the amount of data one intends to store in the drive

Benefits of USB Flash Drive

The Universal Serial Bar flash drive is very portable, therefore making it easy for the owner to carry it around with ease. Also, the gadget has a lot of storage capacity; hence it does not limit the owner to a certain amount of data access and storage (Shu). Moreover, the flash drive facilitates the fast transfer of data from one electronic device to another. On the same note, the USB flash drive is very compatible with many electronic devices; therefore, it is not limited to specific devices (Shu). Lastly, it has high durability and is not easily prone to damage since it does not have any moving parts.

Blue Tooth

Blue tooth is a trademark for wireless interconnection over a short range of electronic devices such as phones and computers (Bisdikian 86). Blue tooth technology is part of our everyday life.it was incorporated into phones in the year 2000. Sony Ericsson T36 was the first Bluetooth mobile phone (Bisdikian 86). Other gadgets that were launched having Bluetooth were dongles, chipsets, wireless PC cards, and mice. The blue tooth remains to be very significant in the current society, and it gets more useful over the years. It is used in wireless speakers and headphones, tethering internet connections, pairing keyboards and gaming controllers, and transferring files over the air from one device to another. Bluetooth has enabled people to pick phone calls and put them on speaker through the car; also, it has enabled the control of the angle of cameras while taking photos (Bisdikian 86). However, it has increased laziness levels as a person can control a device from a distance while seated, for example, when turning lights off and on and changing songs.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bluetooth

Bluetooth has several advantages. They include: Bluetooth devices are available at a cheap cost, Bluetooth is free to use provided that the device in use has blue tooth installed, it has low power consumption and is easily upgradeable (Bisdikian 88). Some of its disadvantages include: it only allows short-range connections, it can be hacked easily, it can fail to connect in certain situations, and it has a very little bandwidth in comparison to wireless fidelity.

Text Messaging Services

it was also in the year 2000 October; a cellular phone company AT&T became the first to offer instant text messaging services for mobile phones (Stucke et al. 196). This service enabled users to send and receive short text messages from their smartphones and cell phones. The texting services became popular and widely used as the number of messages sent increased by the day. Over the years, texting has become a very common activity, especially among teens who can send hundreds of messages a day. Consequently, it has become a medium of communication for people leaving close together or far since it is easy and very convenient to use.

Impacts of Texting Services

Texting has had both positive and negative impacts. Negative impacts include increased phone bills due to sending of many messages and has also led to ‘sexting’ where teens use text services to share partial or fully nude images of themselves (Stucke et al. 199). However, texting has been put into positive use where people are using it to send sensitization messages on issues in society, such as the effects of smoking, weight loss, and healthy habits. Currently, texting services are highly used all over the world, and it is a very common means of communication.

Hybrid Cars

Another major invention that improved car technology occurred in July 2000. It was the introduction of Prius by Toyota in the U.S (Wyczalek and Floyd). This marked the period of the hybrid movement. The invention was important as it advocated for fuel-efficient hybrid cars. Hybrid cars are those that have a combination of diesel or petrol engines with an electrically powered motor. The Prius became very popular and was in high demand as it came at a time when fuel prices were setting high records. People were now looking for options. Prius was what came as a solution because of its fuel mileage (Wyczalek and Floyd). Moreover, the Prius had fewer maintenance costs; it was environmentally friendly as it did not release CO2 into the atmosphere and had a high resale value (Wyczalek and Floyd). However, the Prius had a disadvantage of being slow. The Prius car is still very influential and important in the 21st century, still having advantages of being the best hybrid car of its kind.

Google AdWords

Google launched AdWords in October 2000. Google AdWords is a program that was designed to sell adverts online (Voigt et al. 81). The first AdWords office was located in Tokyo, Japan. During the initial stages, advertisers had to pay monthly fees for google to set up and manage their campaigns. However, google advanced and came up with a customized-service portal to house small business enterprises and customers who wanted to oversee their advertisements (Voigt et al. 81). The Google AdWords was successful and was preferred by many people, which is still the case currently. The online advertisement platform has grown rapidly over the years as the number of searches increases on google.

Advantages of Google AdWords

Google AdWords has had a very big impact on the business world. Some of its advantages include: raised brand awareness amongst people, it has a wider customer reach as they contact them through their g-mailboxes, a customer can measure his or her performance with ease, google AdWords helps a customer tackle his or her competition using better means and finally, it is a fast advertisement platform (Voigt et al. 83).

Limitations of using Google AdWordsDespite having benefits, google AdWords has a number of disadvantages. They include: placing adverts on Google AdWords can be costly; managing google AdWords can be technical and very comprehensive, which may lead to mismanagement of an account (Voigt et al. 87). Account mismanagement can lead to grievous consequences. The price of keywords in an advert is highly determined by competition available.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is evident from this research paper that the year 2000 was a turning point in the elevation of technological advancements. Technologies that sprouted and grew that year have played a major role in transforming people’s lives in various aspects. Moreover, the technologies have been improved over the years, and more advancements have taken place as a result of the prior ones. It is, therefore, undebatable that the year 2000 was significant in the United States and all over the world.