It's undeniable: Being among the first to try out a new piece of technology is cool. There's the excitement of doing what has never been done before-the feeling that you're living in the future. And when you're the sole member of your social circle with the latest hot gadget, people stare in fascination. They ask you questions. They see you as the holder of powerful, secret knowledge-for a little while, until the next big thing comes along. People tend to underestimate the costs of this temporary coolness, which they pay in more ways than one. Don't fall into the early adopter trap. Don't join the first wave of consumers who invest in the latest media-hyped hardware; instead, wait and see.
To put it frankly, early adoption is a bad investment. First, the earliest versions of devices are not only expensive, they are also the most expensive that those devices will ever be. Companies are presumably attempting to recover the cost of production as fast as they can, and they know that there are serious tech-lovers who will pay a great deal to be first. Once the revenues from early adopters' purchases are safely in their hands, they can cut the price and shift to the next marketing phase: selling the product to everyone else. This is why the cost of the original iPhone dropped about U. S. $200 only eight months after its release. Plus, electronics hardly ever become more expensive because intense competition in the industry puts downward pressure on prices over time. Prices of gadgets will fall shortly after release, and they will likely keep falling. Many new TV models drop significantly in price as little as ten days after hitting the market. Further, electronics rapidly depreciate because they become obsolete (废弃的)so quickly. This means that early adopters pay the maximum price for an item that does not hold onto its value. The resale price of a cell phone or laptop can drop by fifty percent within just a few months.
Speaking of becoming obsolete, those who are first to leap into a new technology risk (三野志) wasting money and time on something that will never catch on. Another good reason to resist the early-adoption temptation is that the first version of a product typically has defects that cost a lot in time and frustration. Such problems are so common with new technology that early adopters are basically unpaid beta testers and troubleshooters. Unless this sounds to you like a fun way to spend your time, don't be among the first users. If you wait to learn what the problems are with a new electronic gadget, you can look forward to a smoother experience—or choose a less troublesome product.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . Welcome to your future life.
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young-looking. In 2035, medical technology is better than ever. Many people of your age could live to 150, so, at 40, you aren't old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging(抗衰老)treatment.Now,all three of you look the same age.
You say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2035,“smart clothes” contain particles(粒子) much smaller than the cells(细胞)in your body. They can be programmed to change your clothes' color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk from the fridge, but a voice says, “You shouldn't drink that!” Your fridge has read the smart chip(芯片)that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2035,every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It's time to go to work. In 2035, cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car" where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeves. Such"smart technology" is all around you.
So will all these things come true?"For new technology to come early,"says scientist Andrew Zolli,“much has to be done so that new things will replace what we have today."The Internet is an example-what will be the next?
1. What is the theme of the text?A.The Internet. | B.The future life. |
C.The anti-aging technology. | D.The ways of transportation. |
A.Clothes. | B.Cells. | C.Colors. | D.Particles. |
A.It can change its color. | B.It can tell you where to go. |
C.You can, just tell it where to go. | D.You can call your friend to drive it for you. |
A.Nothing is impossible. |
B.Every coin has two·sides. |
C.Where there is a will, there is a way. |
D.Never count the chicken before they are hatched(孵化)。 |
A.Science. | B.Health. | C.Fashion. | D.Advertisement. |
3 . In the future, when robots can be used both in homes and in other areas, they could improve the living standards of people.
Experts believe robots can be used on certain jobs to avoid accidents caused by careless behavior of some people. When robots are used on such work, it does not risk any human life due to accidents at the workplace. Human resources can be efficiently used by performing tasks which demand human skills like critical thinking and problem solving.
While some people talk about how robots can be useful to humans, others voice their concerns. When robots become cheaper to produce, employers may prefer to use more robots than humans. As the technology constantly improves the abilities of robots, it could weaken the value of humans.
A.Robots have been widely used in Japan. |
B.Many people may rely on robots heavily. |
C.They can free people from such tasks as cooking. |
D.Most people believe robots have changed their life. |
E.Japan sees it as a must to build robots to take care of the elderly. |
F.Robots can be also used on low-end jobs like moving heavy things. |
G.However, many elderly people would prefer human helpers to robots. |
Every new year of the last decade I set a personal challenge. My goal was
When I started these challenges, my life was almost all about building the Facebook website. Now there’s so much more to learn. At Facebook, we’re building lots of different apps and technology and we’re handling a lot more social
This decade I’m going to take
Robots have been widely used in our daily life. They can be