Emerging
Technologies Tetrad
The Holographic
Versatile Disc (HVD) is a storage device based on an optical disc technology
and can store several terabytes of information using collinear holography
technique (Layton, n.d.). HVD enhances disk storage capability and a faster
transfer rate of data. This technology obsoletes data storage devices such as
CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disks with lower disk storage capability. HVD rekindles
the early days of punch cards in which information were stored on perforated
paper and early invention of hard disk with storage capacity of about 5MB. Then
5 million characters were huge, and people feel the invention of hard disk was
the best to happen in terms of storage capacity. However, the progression of
storage devices has been so rapid with the emergence of other devices such as
flash drives in gigabytes. The reversal of HVD might be cloud storage, which
will have unlimited storage capacity and access to information and documents
can be anywhere, anytime around the world.
McLuhan’s tetrad help
explore emerging technology and has four quadrants in which every invention
enhances, obsoletes, rekindles and reverses simultaneously (Laureate Inc.,
2009). The progression of storage devices is in a chain from floppy disk, laser
disk, CD and DVD, to Blu-ray disk and HD DVD; the end is not in sight with HVD
and Cloud storage.
References
Layton, J. (n.d.). How
holographic versatile discs work? Retrieved September 26, 2012 from
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hvd.htm.
Laureate Education,
Inc. (Producer). (2009). McLuhan Tetrad. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from
http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/Walden/EDUC/8848/02/downloads/WAL_EDUC8848_02_A_EN-CC.zip.
