Unit Three Discussion Board Two

Jack Lilly

Colorado Technical University

CS875: Futuring and Innovation

Dr. Calongne

January 18, 2022

Unit Three Discussion Board Two

        A prediction that was made by Nikola Tesla over one hundred years ago has come to fruition. Tesla was born in 1856 in Croatia and eventually moved to the United States and worked for Thomas Edison. He was ahead of his time and possessed a high level of innovation that allowed him to invest in many technologies. When alternating current (AC) favored by Tesla competed against direct current (DC), favored by Edison, Tesla publicly subjected himself to 250,000-volt shocks to demonstrate AC’s safety and ultimately won the competition (Newhall, 2013). 

Prediction

        Nikola Tesla stated in Popular Mechanics in 1909 that it would be possible to send wireless messages back and forth across the globe in the future using a mass-available handheld device (Sacco, 2010). Tesla boldly and accurately predicted the rise of smartphones. Keep in mind that while such large-scale predictions as this came true, several others have had far less success, such as everyone enjoying a personal helicopter or airplane runways atop skyscrapers. Regardless, this specific prediction of business innovation did eventually occur and proved Tesla correct. 

Forces

        Several different forces impacted this prediction and the eventual result. The technological force was paramount to Tesla because it was yet another invention that could significantly affect all involved. Additionally, if this technology could have been achieved during his lifetime and expanded upon from that point, today’s form of the same technology may be much more advanced. The technological force, the need to improve the available conditions of technology, seems to have been a constant for Tesla. 

        Once the technology was demonstrated, it was only a matter of scaling it up to attract more users. This is where the global force came in and pushed that technology out to the masses. The idea was transformed into smartphones, with cell phones becoming more popular, efficient, and necessary. At this stage, the current iteration exceeds the prediction set forth by Tesla, but this is a good thing. 

        User adoption has become so prevalent that building materials and processes see a reduction in costs. The global force allows Tesla’s prediction of international wireless messages through hand-held devices to truly meet the forecast letter. Furthermore, the societal force practically ensures that users will continue purchasing, using, and upgrading their smartphones for the foreseeable future. This is because society enjoys the permitted access to interconnectedness with individuals, groups, and businesses that is possible with the end-product of Tesla’s prediction. 

 

References

Newhall, M. (2013). Top 11 things you didn't know about nikola tesla. Energy.gov. Retrieved January 12,         2022, from https://www.energy.gov/articles/top-11-things-you-didnt-know-about-nikola-tesla 

Sacco, A. (2010). Blackberry, smartphones predicted by physicist tesla 100 years ago. CIO. Retrieved             January 12, 2022, from https://www.cio.com/article/294876/mobile-blackberry-smartphones-predicted-by-physicist-tesla-100-years-ago.html