{"id":101187,"date":"2020-04-15T15:19:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T22:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=101187"},"modified":"2020-04-16T16:15:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T23:15:36","slug":"understanding-digital-technology-and-fourth-industrial-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/15\/understanding-digital-technology-and-fourth-industrial-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Digital Technology and Fourth Industrial Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Aloysius Hettiarachchi<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>In trying to take advantage of the lockdown\nthat we have been subjected to, I decided to read a book on digital technology\nfrom which I had previously read here and there, this time with a determination\nof understanding it better. It had been written by a famous professor (US) who\nhad inspired the likes of Linus Torvalds and the Norwegian duo Alf and Vegard\n(college students) to invent the Linux operating system and the AVR technology,\nrespectively. The AVR technology in particular is used in many electronic\ndevices today. This professor is old (same as me) but is still serving in a\nfamous university in the Netherlands. And it dawned on me that this is an\nopportune moment for GOSL to take advantage to enlighten many youths (and even\nadults) about the digital technology using the electronic media and their ICTA\nguys.&nbsp; Yesterday morning I was watching a\nTV program in ITN in which one psychologist taking part in the program said\nthat normally our guys, when they go for an international event always take a\nback seat. Perhaps this may be the reason why we are backward when compared to those\nin countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and even India which were way\nbehind us in the 60s. In the field of digital technology also we seem to have\ntaken a backseat even though many businessmen come on various forums and talk\nabout AI etc.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>To my mind there is no need for\nknowledge in science or engineering to understand the basics of digital\ntechnology; it is simple as understanding &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221;,\n&#8220;high&#8221; or &#8220;low&#8221;, 12 volts, 5 volts and 3 volts of batteries\nand the current flows in metal wires. Steve Jobs\u2019 training was only on Cartography,\nbut he was quick to understand the need for the computer to have a Graphical\nUser Interface (GUI) and took the advantage along with Bill Gates and created\nthe computer (and the mobile) that we use in our everyday life today. This was\na huge loss of opportunity to Xerox which actually spent for the development of\nthat technology in Polo Alto research facility. So, the smart guy who make use\nof the opportunity always wins.<\/li><li>The headquarters of manufacture\nof digital devices and products now is not the US (or UK &amp; Germany) today,\nbut Taiwan; this dispels the myth that a good knowledge of English is a\nprerequisite to gain knowledge of digital technology. Watch the video in the link\ngiven below to see how they ridicule this myth:<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"TechNexion Factory Tour\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cMNXDqwKrRQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ; TechNexion PCB design and manufacture in Taiwan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Prez should get his ICTA\nteam that comprise professors, lecturers and Industrialist to give a series of\nlectures to students in A\u2019level classes as well as in Universities explaining\nthe basics in the computer organization as the lady in the link given below\ndoes. This may be given in Sinhala using the new terms that are used these\ndays. This lady has a crash course that can be followed if necessary. I have\nobserved that it is the top guys in any governmental organization that does the\nbiggest damage to the country by staying put without contributing much. Software\ndevelopment is not digital technology; one does not need any knowledge of\ninternal combustion engine to drive a car. Software development can be done\nwithout knowing any digital technology as long as one knows how operate a\ncomputer. I therefore believe that Prez should give them targets to be achieved\nin a definite time frame and should not keep them beyond that even if they try\nto help him in various ways or sing hosannas.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Early Computing: Crash Course Computer Science #1\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O5nskjZ_GoI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ; Crash course1 on digital technology, the history<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Boolean Logic &amp; Logic Gates: Crash Course Computer Science #3\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gI-qXk7XojA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ; Crash course3 Logic Gates<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It is the private sector that\nhas helped countries to achieve greatness except in the case of Russia. It was\nIBM, Xerox, Apple, Microsoft etc in the US, ARM in the UK, Samsung in Korea and\nAcer and TSMC in Taiwan that has helped those countries to earn billions and improve\nthe living standard of their people. (The recent pandemic shows that these\ncountries ,except Taiwan, have been solely depending on these technologies for\nsurvival). These are all hardware companies except in the case of Microsoft but\nthey too are constantly following the trends in hardware and that is why they\nsend updates from time to time in trying to maintain the hardware acceleration\netc. by even upgrading the booting system remotely all the time. I therefore\nfeel that the government should encourage startups in this field by making\nthings easier for such companies to operate in this field.<\/li><li>It was in the news that the\ncurrent PM even gave funds (Rs. 180 million) as early as 2014 to Moratuwa\nuniversity to set up a facility for PCB design using software, whether they\nactually made use of it is not known. I give below two videos to explain what I\nam talking about; these are free open source software:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Designing a Raspberry Pi plugin PCB in KiCad in 20 minutes (&quot;Shine On You Crazy KiCad&quot;)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PlDOnSHkX2c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ; KiCad, PCB design using cad syst<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"From Idea to Schematic to PCB - How to do it easily!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/35YuILUlfGs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0; PCB design<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I have visited couple of\nexhibitions recently including the one at Homagama ICT campus couple of months\nago and found that the guys who were there to explain their ware did not have a\ngood understanding of the controllers their exhibits make use of. For example\nthe technical guy who was displaying the operations of a drone did not know the\ncontroller it was using. They had mounted a standard Raspberry Pi 3 as the\ncontroller which can use standard software that can be downloaded. But the\ndrone lacked stability. If there are academics worth their salt who bring these\nitems, they should design controllers using the facilities provided by the\ngovernment and also enlighten their technical staff as to how they operate.\nPerhaps ministry of education should buy the kits the guy in the following two\nvideos is using to demonstrate how an 8 bit computer can be made on just about\nten bred boards and simple chips all of which costs no more than US$ 250.&nbsp; The second video explains the basics of a\nbuilding a graphics card. This will demonstrate how a simple computer can be\nbuilt. The chip 6502 was the processor (8 bits) on which both BBC Micro and the\nApple 11 computers were built and computer enthusiasts (including those of the\nARM engineers) had experimented while our academics were concentrating on\nrevolutions.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"8-bit CPU control signal overview\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AwUirxi9eBg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eight bit computer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"World&#039;s worst video card? The exciting conclusion\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uqY3FMuMuRo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ; World\u2019s worst video card<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Founders of Microsoft, Bill Gates and Paul\nAllen not only had an intimate knowledge of the Basic and C languages they used\n(for the MSDOS system) but also had a good knowledge of the underlying hardware\nlayers on which the microprogram operated. They had the confidence to leave the\nuniversity courses they followed and start their endeavor that became the most\nvaluable company in the world. After leaving the university they first\nenlisting themselves on a project with Washington road department for traffic\ncount. The \u2018engine\u2019 of the laptop on which I am typing this today (Intel\nCore-i7 CPU on a 2016 Dell machine) is only an extension of Intel 8008 machine\nmade in 1972 that they used in 1973. &nbsp;And\nthis machine had so many problems the Microsoft seems to have been trying to\nsolve from the time I bought it. They seem to have tried to gain hardware acceleration\nat the same time to keep it power efficient at the expense of poor users. The\ndisplay of my computer was not stable from the time I bought it in 2016 in a\nforeign country and it stayed that way until quite recently when they had\nremotely updated it with a different booting system (UEFI). I had seen people\ncoming from distant places like Badulla carrying the same laptop to service\ncenters in Unity Plaza in Bambalapitiya in Colombo saying their computer is not\nwaking up from hibernation. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Dell was also a student in a\nuniversity who experimented in building computers with cheap parts and when he\nfound that his products were selling fast dropped out of uni to build his own\ncompany. He seems to be still experimenting in plants spread around the world.\nThis particular machine I am using had been assembled in Malaysia but was\nunable to solve the problem when the vendor sent it there. So, why not our guys\nalso embark on such ventures without fear?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of the Corona virus our people have\ngot the opportunity to make things like robots, ventilators, sanitizers etc for\nwhich we would have had to spend large amount of forex. So, necessity is the\nmother of invention and what I can say is automate, automate and automate for\nthe next level. I have done this with software using AI techniques since 1990\nin many of my projects, although it is only recently people have started\ntalking about it<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;To\nmy mind education as tool to keep parents and children occupied is just wastage\nof resources and time; it is alsonot the solution to develop our economy. It\ndid not happen in Korea or Taiwan, it will not happen in Sri Lanka either; it\nwill only produce more jobless graduates the GOSL has to take care of while\nthose who do science and engineering will have no option other than to emigrate\nand still do menial jobs overseas. To my mind our guys working in big software companies\nhere and abroad are doing jobs similar to those of house maids but in a more\ndignified way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I appeal to GOSL to get their experts in the\nfield of digital Technology to come forward and give a series of lectures that\nmay be useful to students (and even adults) using the TV channels that has been\nfreed from Teledramas and make the best use of enforced holiday. If this is\ndone may be in the near future we will have not billionaires (we already have them\nin the US?) but challenge the likes of Elon Musk who owns Tesla. The following\nvideo describe his efforts: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Will Elon Musk Be The World&#039;s First Trillionaire?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EXaEz0mJXWY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ; Will Elon Musk be the first trillionaire<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This video below gives an assessment of the\nventilator basics and how Teslas machine made with car parts compares with a\nreal commercial one. This is for the Vega guys who built their own ventilator\nwith their car parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nurse reacts to Tesla&#039;s ventilator &amp; what&#039;s with those resuscitators?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IDeeQiZt1po?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0; Tesla Ventilator (food for thought of Vega engineers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am open to take both criticism as well as\nany kind words as I had to, 30 years ago. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aloysius Hettiarachchi In trying to take advantage of the lockdown that we have been subjected to, I decided to read a book on digital technology from which I had previously read here and there, this time with a determination of understanding it better. It had been written by a famous professor (US) who had inspired [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}