Page 91 - ALEF EDUCATION PR RPEORT MAY 2025

4/8/25, 10:28 AM 20 Tech Innovations With A Surprising Impact On Popular Culture
16. Cloud Computing

Cloud computing prevented internet fragmentation and fostered innovation and global

market expansion. It enabled previously impractical use cases like social media and redu

enterprises’ reliance on in-house IT by externalizing non-core functions. This streamline
workflows, eased transitions between companies and freed engineers to focus on innovat

driving societal progress. - Viren Gupta, Box

17. Touch Screens

Touch screens have completely transformed how we interact with technology, making it
more intuitive, accessible and widespread than ever before. What started as a novelty

quickly became the foundation for smartphones, tablets and even smart home devices.
Imagine the uses now in health care, retail and the automotive industry. Swiping, pinchin

and tapping have become second nature versus pressing a physical button. - Erum
Manzoor, Citigroup

18. Web Scrapers

The web scraper, originally designed for indexing, has reshaped industries by democratiz

data access. Real estate, finance and e-commerce now rely on scraped insights for pricing
investment decisions and forecasting. It’s an invisible force behind algorithmic strategies

competitive intelligence and even regulatory debates—turning raw web data into power.

Marc Rutzen, HelloData.ai

19. Lasers

From concerts to light shows, lasers have been used to amaze and wow audiences. They h
been used in guidance systems, surgical processes and to play back movies or music from

disc. Lasers were and still are a pretty cool tech. However, when irresponsible people shin
them directly into people's eyes or at airplanes, the result can be devastating and potentia

catastrophic. - Robert Martin, Oil City Iron Works, Inc.

20. Motion Capture

Motion capture (mo-cap) technology, initially developed for military and scientific
applications, has now transformed the entertainment industry, impacting pop culture wa

beyond movies and video games. Enabling hyper-realistic CGI characters for movies, it's

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