We are in the early stages of unforeseen change as a result of several international disasters.
The pandemic has not only forced us to switch to supporting working from home, but it has also resulted in massive resignations of people who decide they really don’t want to go back to jobs they hate.
Concerns about climate change are driving every major auto company to switch to electric vehicles, and Ford just announced that it will split the company to better address that opportunity. Volvo and Jaguar are taking a similar route.
The war in Ukraine is forcing a drastic change not only in the world’s power structure (Russia may no longer be a superpower) but also in the creation of the first viable international cyber army possible. including Anonymous.
Let’s talk about these changes — and we’ll close with my product of the week, a new HP display designed for normal operation in our remote video conferencing.
The US tech workforce is organizing
One of the interesting historical advantages tech companies have is immunity to unions. This allows companies to be more flexible, reduce costs and operate with almost no union interference.
However, a combination of bad policies towards employees, lack of pay raises and exorbitant executive pay, along with practices that appear hostile to those employees is changing that dynamic. Apple, in particular, has been accused of unfairly treating its employees, prompting some to use Android phones, which are said to help ensure privacy as they seek to unify — and a sign of disunity. do not trust their owners.
Now, almost every major tech company faces at least the possibility of dealing with unions. Once unions began to spread and gain power, they also had the ability to infiltrate neighboring companies by working to convince current employees that they were being mistreated.
Once unions gain critical mass in an industry, it is virtually impossible for them to stop, because the funding they receive allows them to fund campaigns that unite companies in a single ecosystem. thai. The cycle of turning every union win into funding allows their spread to be unstoppable once it reaches a tipping point.
While that point has yet to be reached, I predict that, unless companies focus heavily on ensuring employee satisfaction and loyalty, this tipping point will be reached. before 2025.
The result will be a significant cost and operational drag on unionized companies, but they will only have themselves to blame. If they had treated their employees better in the first place, the union would not have been able to gain significant mass.
In addition, The Great Resignation tells us that even if tech companies don’t unionize, a large number of employees are thinking about retirement or changing jobs, which will make companies that is much more difficult to do.
Push on the tram
Ford, Jaguar and Volvo are all working on forming separate electric divisions or companies, allowing them to better focus on competing with Tesla.
This reminds me a bit of the smartphone war between Apple and others, where companies didn’t take Apple seriously in the first place, and the market leaders at the time were Research in Motion (BlackBerry), Palm, Nokia and Microsoft were caught red-handed.
However, unlike Apple, Tesla has had major problems with enforcement and substandard quality control for a long time. This has led its rivals to finally realize that they need to focus on electric cars if they want to do it right, and we are seeing that focus appear with the announcement of the creation of automotive divisions. centralized electric motor. Expect these new parts to create stronger alternatives to Tesla and avoid the fate of major Apple competitors.
On top of that, the shift to electric vehicles will force changes in automotive support and maintenance, increasing electric capacity and spurring an even larger shift to sustainable energy production.
Finally, we’ll see the first Level 4 self-driving cars hit the road in 2026, which could change the very nature of driving.
International Cyber Army
As I write this, Russia has unwisely attacked Ukraine, suddenly realizing the opposite of what the US experienced in Afghanistan nearly a year ago. Instead of pacifying citizens, they discovered that the Ukrainians were ready to fight to stop one of the stupidest things Russia has ever done.
Volunteer fighters are now swarming across the country, but the most interesting aspect is the Ukrainian IT Army, a group primarily made up of volunteer international hackers who are working remotely to take down Russia. Apparently, although not officially confirmed, even the activist collective and hacktivist Anonymous were on board, they also declared war on Russia.
Collective Anonymous officially joined the cyber war against the Russian government. #Nameless #Ukraine
– Anonymous (@YourAnonOne) February 24, 2022
What makes this particularly interesting is that experts think Russia will use cyberwarfare first, but Russia’s capabilities have been dimmed by what these Ukrainian volunteers have to offer.
Although the physical army is still largely Ukrainian, this IT army has grown to become independent of nations and become the world’s cyber defense force, popping in when needed in times of conflict. legitimate threats to local or world stability.
So far, the alliance is far more effective than the United Nations or NATO in terms of countering Russia.
Ending: A Changed World
The resurgence of unions and major employee movements, the heralded death of the internal combustion engine, along with a decisive move towards more sustainable energy sources, and the emergence of An international and increasingly closely coordinated cyber army, combined with Russia’s apparent demise as a world power, are all just the tip of the iceberg of change.
We also have robotics, AI more capable than ever, metaverse and increasingly realistic digital immortality.
This decade will see an unprecedented change, but it is clear that we as a country and the world are not yet ready for this level of change. My advice is don’t stick to anything, stay agile and actively expand your skills so you can adapt to the waves of change instead of drowning in them.
Russia is now a typical child of what can happen if you misunderstand how fundamentally the world has been and is changing. Don’t be Russian.
HP E24m G4 FHD USB-C conference monitor
As I noted, in a short amount of time we have changed the way we communicate and collaborate.
With Cisco moving to combine telecommunications with video conferencing, our office phones are trending out of fashion. This is great because, in the 1960s, AT&T set it up for video phones and now we’re really ready for them.
What makes HP’s collaboration displays different is that they have built-in dual microphones, an adjustable pop-up camera (which can be tilted down to frame), and speakers that aren’t too loud for small rooms or for large crowds. people working at home. These monitors will charge your laptop (up to 65 watts) and it has ethernet built in so you just need to connect that one USB-C cable for a dock-like experience.
HP E24m G4 FHD USB-C Conference Monitor (Credit: HP)
The monitors are well priced. The 24-inch model HP sent me for review is a pretty decent monitor for $399. It has FHD (1920×1080) resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 5ms latency. At 300 nits of brightness, they’re good enough for a well-lit room, but won’t be bright enough for outdoors or where there’s excessive glare — and you shouldn’t have a monitor anyway.
A single USB-C connection is all that is needed, making this ideal for laptops, PCs or Chromebooks (Chromebook certified). It is Zoom certified but will also work well with any other video conferencing service. Our future may be Zoom meetings, and monitors like these will be a big part of that future, so the HP E24m G4 FHD USB-C Conference Monitor is my go-to for the week.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.
