Chap. 18

As I was thinking about industry using technology to make life better or more productive, I thought about our fellow student Steve who teaches flying. Flying students are able to use simulators to hone their skills and practice manuevers without actually going up in the air. A very good use of technology in my opinion. This led me to another idea, how about putting teen age student drivers into simulators. First of all it shouldn't be that hard as we have tons of race car driving games already available. Then with some adaptations to the game kids could be exposed to all kinds of driving conditions. Consider the powerful impact the simulator could have by emulating a drunk driver, how the kids would view the road, varinging the perceptions, blurring the obstacles, making objects seem double, fuzzy signal lights. The more I think about it I'm actually wondering why this has not been invented yet. Then the program could make various weather conditions, the sky's the limit, [grin ]. So the road could be icy, snowy, wet, slick with leafs, in our area we have fish flies also known as June bugs that make the roads slippery. If you lived near a desert sand storms, or water over the roads if you are close to rivers, lakes etc. Rules of the road is another area that could be explored. Fire engines, ambulances, and police vehicles could all enter the picture. Accidents could occur in front of the driver, practice passing large trucks, stopping at railroad crossings, the list goes on and on. I believe you get the idea, while I am not currently a driver ed. instructor I was once a long time ago. I actually got into an accident with a student driving, a simulated accident would have been much cheaper, and a lot easier on my heart.

Businesses use technology to keep their employees current on developments in their field. This is especially useful if the business is an international one. The employee can sit at his/her desk learn about the culture and laws of the foreign country and apply them to the business they are running. One example is the car companies, even doing business in a country as close as Canada requires a knowledge of their laws, taxes, money exchange rates and how that will affect the hourly rates of employees wages. Of course, large companies must show a profit so all of these factors must be taken into account before any product is sold. Imagine a new employee trying to run a transaction with a foreign worker even though they work for the same company. If the new employee had no knowledge of how the foreign employee did business it would be a mess. Hence, the use of the computer to have a set of instructions, rules and regulations, and tests to help all workers in all countries stay on the same page. The employees are not thrilled with having to take the courses, so the business ties their promotions to the number of courses the employee has completed. Their has to be a hook somewhere, and the pay check is always the easiest to use.