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Updated Technology For Old Habits

Everyday technology plays a larger role in our lives as investors and companies push for products that increase convenience and accessibility of services. This has especially been true for computer technology, which has undergone a metamorphosis from a large desktop to portable handheld systems. In only a few years, cell phones evolved from simple screen capabilities to touch screen technology with Internet access. The increased usage of technology has caused many to rethink other inventions, which have barely changed since their inception.

Here are a couple of products that have received a technology-based makeover, thus changing the way they are advertised and used,

Cigarettes

Cigarettes, specifically tobacco smoke, have a long history in religious ritual, medicine, and recreational usage. Usage of tobacco can be dated back to 3000 BC when the substance was cultivated in South America. Tobacco found a home in the US in Jamestown around 1612 as a cash crop. The usage of tobacco was re-popularized upon the advent of advertising media and subsequently movie film. As smoking bans increase across the US, technology has served an alternative method for smokers, which is the exception to the smoking ban legislation – electronic cigarettes. The e-cigarette mimics the taste and nicotine content of a cigarette without the smoke.

Books

Writing systems can be traced to ancient civilizations, particularly the writings from ancient Egypt on papyrus scrolls, around 5,000 BC. The first recording of a book format was around 2400 BC. From their birth in ancient history, books have been created on wax, wood, clay, and metal. Book underwent a metamorphosis in consumption when Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press in 1450, which fueled education, book availability, and increased literacy across Europe. The development of digital printing began a new age for the consumption of reading material. Although electronic books or e-books were invented in the 1970′s, they weren’t widely available or affordable until the wide release of e-book readers, such as the Amazon Kindle, in 2009. The pageless “book” changed the way books are bought and stored, since hundreds of books can be stored and bought through one e-reader.

Music

Although music has seen many forms over the last few decades the change from the CD to mp3 changed the way most music is stored and bought. Using the increased popularity of personal computing systems, music stores and music labels have found another market for selling the music of musicians by song or album though availability online. Technology for portable storage of music in mp3 form has also become more affordable with the ability to hold thousands of songs.

While some technology will eventually lose relevance to the daily lives of consumers, other invention will benefit from a technological makeover that will refuel an interest in its benefits.