Technology is the basic stone in our civilization right now. Without technology, we wouldn't have any of the things we take for granted day by day. People use technology even without noticing that they actually do. From the very first bite you take from an industrially created slice of sandwich bread, or the first step you take in your new shoes made in some factory, to the video conference with the European branch of your company you made last Tuesday. Every piece of technology affects our life in one way or another. Either directly or because it actually changes the world we live in, making it a better, safer, more comfortable place (or at least it should).

New technology, however, does not only affect our lives, but it affects all of the other technology. And I mean not only the older one, which may become old fashioned and useless, but even the technology that has not even been invented, because it may perhaps become unnecessary. 

I have explained two technological trends in this ePortfolio, one that has directly affected me, and one that interests me. The one that has directly affected me was about thermocromic labels in beer bottles and cans, which I came to know about from a beer brand in my home island, Gran Canaria. The brand, as I wrote is called Tropical, and it's the most consumed beer in the Canary Islands. As unimportant an invention it may seem, it has even though affected technology, and in more than one way actually. They've obviously had to change the technology in their factory and they have introuced the idea in a very competitive market as it is the alcoholic beverage one, where all beer brands fiercely compete for the tinyest detail that may give them a strategic differentiation advantage.

First of all, the first thing to do is to produce these labels and cans. The factories where they're made have to transform their machines in order to adapt to the specifications that they need to apply the thermocromic pigments to the labels or cans. They'll probably need special containers to keep the paint, as well as special machinery to apply it and I guess a new drying technique to keep the paint from moving away from the place it should be or to keep it from rubbing off.

As I said, they have changed the alcoholic beverage market, too. By introducing this innovative concept they will have probably gotten the other brands with whom they compete to start thinking about introducing the special labels. This would mean a change in the whole industry, and a change in technology, because a label that includes a perfect cold indicator would be seen as standard.

Then we have the hybrid super cars. Those are truly game changers. The car industry is one of the most important ones in the world. With almost 800 cars per 1000 people in the United States of America, you can say that every innovation that is introduced in this area will affect the lives of many many people. 

Both the McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918 Spyder are cars that have been designed to be at the top of their brands. They're cars that have been designed to bring us into a new generation of automotion, of cars that are less dependable on big amounts of fuel but that can still perform as good as the old sport cars, or maybe even better. 

Normally, hybrid cars are designed to consume as little fuel as possible, in order to be very eco friendly and to save money to its owner. So is it even logical to pay around one million dollars for a hybrid car? Yes, it is. Because you're buying the future of sport cars. Now they will not only fit a enormous combustion engine but electric motors to fill in the power gaps that are left by such an old-fashioned way of powering things. Not only in the field of powering have they made progress. They have by far the most intelligent bodies fitted in production cars in the world. Their active aerodynamic features are truly amazing. They have moving parts in their bodywork to ensure that the brakes are properly cooled or that enough downforce is acing on the car so that it doesn't lose traction and at the same time goes as fast as possible. These features are top technology ones, that even though they have been tested, the have never been for so long or in so many ways. The buyers of these cars will now provide feedback on their performance, which will help technology to keep advancing in the right way, making the experience of driving a more complete one.