Analogue Evolution, Digital Revolution: Tipping Points in Technology

Kickstarting a brand-new year with the original 'Rockstar Developer' 🤟🏼, Dylan Beattie. It's time for the first Notts Techfast of the year, for your 'before work' shot of technology-focussed talk and chat.

This will be a 'hybrid event' - both in-person at BJSS Nottingham's office, and available to join online too. Those who mark themselves as attending will be sent a link to join the webinar closer to the time if you're unable to join us for breakfast personally. You are welcome to join us at BJSS Nottingham from 7am. The links will also be made available via social media posts so make sure you follow us on LinkedIn and X to keep up to date.

About the talk

Technological progress is non-linear.
Sometimes, innovation is a smooth curve; hundreds of small, incremental improvements over many years – until something comes along that changes the game; something that fundamentally challenges our assumptions around what technology can achieve. Within the last few decades, technology has profoundly and irreversibly changed the shape of human society; how we work, how we relax, how we communicate and collaborate. And, in almost every case, the key has been digitalisation: the ability to take transform part of our reality into a stream of bits.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to see the tipping points, to identify the moments when a particular technology or idea achieved critical mass, when something went from being an interesting prototype to a viable product – but for people who were there at the time, it often wasn’t nearly so obvious.

In an industry that’s perpetually excited about the “next big thing”, how do developers and technologists decide what to focus on?
Should we be thinking about augmented reality?
Will machine learning replace developers?
Is AI a fun toy, a useful tool – or an existential threat to humanity?

Join Dylan Beattie for an entertaining look at the innovations that really did change the world (and a few that didn’t!) and how understanding our history can help us make sense of the next digital revolution – whatever that turns out to be.

About The Speaker
Dylan Beattie is a consultant, software developer and international
keynote speaker. He’s been building data-driven web applications since
the 1990s; he’s managed teams, taught workshops, and worked on
everything from tiny standalone websites to complex distributed systems.
He’s a Microsoft MVP, and he regularly speaks at conferences and user groups all over the world.
Dylan is the creator of the Rockstar programming language, the director of Ursatile, and the founder of The Linebreakers, the world’s greatest tech comedy party rock band.
He’s online at **dylanbeattie.net** and on X as @dylanbeattie.

Our thanks to BJSS Nottingham for sponsoring Techfast and if you're able to join us in person breakfast items and drinks will be provided to help start your day right. Hope to see you there!